The Surprise Visit And The Aftermath
by Dodger Gilmore
Summary: This is a Lit story in the beginning, but then there will probably come some JJ stuff also. Not for Deanlovers. What if Rory had come to Jess in New York on some other day than Lorelai´s graduation day and if she and Dean already had been broken up?
1. Missing Her

**A/N: **This is a Lit story that takes place after Teach Me Tonight. Jess is alone in New York, thinking back at his time in Stars Hollow. And I promise there will be more action in the next chapter!

_**The Surprise Visit, And The Aftermath **_

1. Missing Her

Alone. He was now totally and completely alone.

Jess never used to have a problem with loneliness. Most of the times he had actually enjoyed the relief of not having to talk to or befriend with people. He hadn't like them, the people. He had just thought of them as an annoying bunch that was nothing but disturbing bi-characters in his life.

Then he moved to Stars Hollow. The hell of a small town with all its quirky inhabitants and their stupid festivities. Everyone was so … happy. It had disgusted him. Weren't they aware of how awful the world is, he used to wonder. Were they actually that stupid?

And on top of all of this he had been stuck living with his grumpy uncle, who was constantly making irritating attempts to bond with him. It was pathetic, he had thought. So obvious that he didn't really want Jess there and was just trying to be some kind of super hero. Mr Fix-It-All.

No. It hadn't been funny at all when he first moved there. Even thought he would never ever admit it to anyone, it had hurt him a bit to be as disliked and unwanted there as he had been. The entire town hated him and wanted him gone. It wasn't always so easy to pretend that it didn't bothered him at all, that he didn't give a damn what they all thought of him.

So at first he had really hated it. But with time the place had grown on him. Luke had actually turned out to be a pretty decent guy. The others were of course still weird and filled with hatred towards him, which still could bug him a bit, but he had found something that made it all worth it. Or, more specifically, someone. Rory.

The first time he had laid his eyes on her he had liked her. Right in the beginning she had come off a little bit too perky, but she had turned out to be … well, let's just say more then he could've ever expected. He had come closer to her than to anyone else – ever. They had so much in common. They could talk about stuff: books, music, just anything. Everything. It all just came out so easy. No uncomfortable silences. He really enjoyed her company, which was surprising even to himself that he actually could. And even though she had that floppy-haired jerk boyfriend he still could've sworn she had felt something too. She must've, he couldn't have imagined all of that tension between them.

He got lost in memories. Their book-buying after the Bid-A-Basket-festival, her letting him stay for dinner with Paris and her, her thinking he cared about her and asking him to get along with her mom, her agreeing to help him studying, that ice cream trip…

Oh, that last evening had been the greatest. They had been so comfortable and relaxed around each other, they had talked and laughed, there had been no Dean around… He had been happy. Why did it have to end like that? It wasn't fair! He gets one wonderful magical evening and it has to end up in disaster! He shivered now, remembering. He had been so scared, so afraid that she was hurt. And she had been. She had fractured her wrist, broken her arm. He had hurt her. He could never forgive himself for that.

He had returned to New York immediately after that, as soon as he had made sure she got to the hospital okay. After that he couldn't stay there. They'd all hate him even more and he knew he couldn't take it now that he agreed with them. He hated himself too. For causing her pain. And for spoiling everything, just when living had started to be something quite enjoyable in stead of something you just do because you have to. He had ruined it all. She'd never wanna see him again and he couldn't blame her.

He put his head in his hands and sighed deeply. Even though he didn't think he deserved to feel any better than this it was still awful. He was alone again now, and all he wanted was to be back with her.


	2. Awkward Silences And Some Sleeping Pills

**A/N **Hey guys thanks for the review. Here is a really fast up-date. That is what reviews do to me, hehe. So here you go, enjoy and please leave a review to me!

2. Awkward Silences, Confessions And Some Sleeping Pills

Then he looked up, and he saw her.

"Hi" he said, surprised.

She smiled at him, a little concerned after witnessing his sigh before.

"Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah. Absolutely" he added when she didn't look entirely convinced. "But what about you? I'm the one who should be asking" he said, pointing at her cast.

"Oh, this? No, it's fine. It just looks bad, it barely hurts at all" she assured him.

"You sure?" he asked, still a bit of worry in his voice.

"Definitely" she smiled.

"Oh, well, that's good then" he said uncomfortably.

"Yes it is" she said, suddenly at a loss of anything more to say.

"So…what do we do now?" she asked, a little nervous now.

"Dunno. Guess we just…hang out…or…if that's just why you came?" he asked uncertainly.

She blushed and suddenly became very interested of the way the ground was looking, but she admitted: "Well, kind of…"

"Okay then, let's just…"

"Hang out" she finished the sentence for him.

"Yeah" he nodded.

Silence fell. They were both nervous and franticly racing their brains trying to come up with a proper topic so that a conversation could be started.

"Any ideas?" he asked after a while, assuming that she was going through the same as he was.

She shook her head.

"Well, you came here to see me, right?" he asked, just to be sure.

When she nodded he couldn't help smiling.

"Okay, what did you picture us doing?"

She looked away for a second, hiding her red cheeks.

"Maybe just reading or something" she lied.

He ignored the blush and hesitation and said:

"All right then, we'll read. You bring a book?"

"Always"

"Yeah, I figured, just thought I'd ask."

He picked up his book from his bag. She glanced at it, asking:

"Anything good?"

He showed her the cover with a smirk:

"Yes, very very good, interesting, well-written. Feel free to borrow it"

She made a grimace.

"Hemmingway, no way. Or, well, maybe to burn it or something. The world should be freed from all evidence something like this could ever have existed before I even remotely consider having kids"

He laughed, playing offended.

"He's not that bad"

"Yeah. He is" she assured him. "Every time I've made an attempt to read one of his books I have been dead asleep within five minutes, even times when I have not been tired at all. And I usually never fall asleep reading, not even if it's 6 AM and I still haven't gone to bed. That's how boring he is."

"Oh wow, he should get an award or something" he said, amused by her lecture.

"Yeah. Suckiest writer with the most efficient sleeping pills in the world"

He just laughed and shook his head.

The discussion went on like that for quite a while, then Jess suddenly became serious again.

"I'm sorry" he said quietly, looking down at his knees. "I know the arm must be hurting you, I can see it. You're just too nice to tell me."

"It's okay" she assured him again. "No, really, it's fine" she added when he was about to interrupt. "Yeah, it hurts a bit when I'm off the pain killers, but it's really not so bad. I can take it, I promise"

"I'm still sorry" he mumbled, still avoiding her gaze.

"You don't have to be. It wasn't your fault, I know that and you do too if you really think about it. It would've happened whoever had been driving. Don't blame yourself. Please?"

He looked up at her.

"Please" she begged again.

He turned away again, still not believing her.

"Dean and I are over, you know" she announced out of the blue. "We couldn't make it work after all that and…. I don't know if I even have wanted to for a while now. I…I don't love him anymore… and… there's something else, but… "

She left that hanging in the air.

When he still looked away she tried again:

"Please Jess, just look at me"

He did after just a moment of hesitation. His expression was a bit confused, but there was also a little smile playing on his lips as he started to realize what she just had said, or almost said. She saw it and before any of them knew how it had happened they were sharing a deep kiss. It seemed to last forever. When they broke apart he said:

"Well, I sure hope Luke will take me back now"

She just laughed and kissed him again.


	3. I Wanna Come Back

**A/N: **Yay! I got reviews again! So now I am up-dating again, hehe… Thank you all for reading my stories and reviews are always loved loved loved!

3. I Wanna Come Back

"Okay, here we go" said Jess nervously, for about the fourth time, making a movement towards the door.

"I can come in with you if you want, you know" Rory told him again, seeing right through him when he was trying not to show that he was scared of what Luke's reaction would be to him just showing up like this.

"No, it's okay. Really" he assured her. "You could wait here if you want though, I'm sure it wont be too long"

"Either a quick crushing or fast acceptance, you reckon?"

"Yeah, sort of. So… Will you wait? I mean, you don't have to, it's just…" he never finished that sentence, but she knew it meant that he wanted her there.

"I want to" she said firmly. "I'll just sit here and read, I'll be fine." After a moment more of silence she added "You could go in now, you know. Nothing left to do here"

He sighed. "All right then"

But as he put his hand on the door knob she stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"What now?" he asked her, confused.

She pulled him into a close hug, gave him a quick kiss and whispered "Good luck" with her mouth so close to his ear that he could feel her warm breath against. It was comforting. He was happy to have her there. Suddenly filled with some courage he just smiled at her and went inside.

Luke looked up as the door opened. Jess simply stood there, waiting for his reaction. At first there was none. His uncle seemed to have frozen on the spot with a pretty blank expression on his face. Hesitantly, Jess took a step forward.

"Hey" he said, still sounding nervous. He banned himself silently for not being able to hide that.

"Ehhh…Hi?" Luke said, finally with some questioning in his voice.

Jess wanted to say something, to start explaining why he was back and what he wanted, but his mouth seemed unable to form the words.

"So… you're back." Luke said in stead. "New York wasn't as good when you compared it to this place?"

Jess still said nothing.

"You are visiting?" Luke asked, trying to get something out of Jess, now really eager to find out what was going on. "Cause you know you're always welcome, but… I just… I thought you hated it here"

"I do" Jess said quickly. "I mean, I did" he added then, when he realized that didn't suit to well with what he wanted to say.

"Jess, what's going on?" Luke asked, now starting to get a bit worried.

"I just… you said I could stay here, right? And I… I was just wondering…and…"

"Jess?"

"I wanna come back"

"Excuse me?"

"I wanna come back"

"You wanna come back? Here? Stars Hollow?"

"Yeah"

"To live with me?"

"If you let me, then yes" Jess said, now getting a little impatient. "So… can I?"

"Come back?"

"No fly to the moon and marry Santa Claus and get some green alien babies with red hats"

"Jess…" Luke said warningly.

"Yes. I want to move back here. Is that so hard to believe?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, you did hate it here, and then you moved because… oh no!"

"What?" he asked, getting a bit worried from this.

"Rory. Aw geez, I can't believe I didn't even think of that, I am so stupid. Of course this is about Rory. Did you talk to her? Or how else did you hear that she broke up with Dean?"

"Now… what are you talking about?" Jess tried (and failed) to pretend that he knew nothing about that.

"Jess. Come on"

"Okay, okay. If you must know she came to New York today and then I followed her back cause she asked me to and now she is standing outside waiting for me to get out and tell her your answer" Jess told him, all in one breath.

"Wow" Luke said, amazed by this sudden honesty from Jess.

"So… what do you say?" Jess asked again.

Luke's features softened and he smiled fatherly. "Of course. It was your idea to move, if you've changed your mind you are welcome to come back. I sure can understand if you wanna get out of that smelly Manhattan place, I'd never be able to stay there even for a day"

Jess smirked a little to that, but then he became serious again.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks"


	4. Jealousy And Revenge

**A/N: **Thanks for reviewing! Um… I'm not too sure about this chapter. Maybe a tad too much drama or what do you think? And if you think Dean is out of character you are probably right, but you never know, he might have a dark side to him too if provoked like this… Anyway, I hope you read and review!

4. Jealousy And Revenge

Meanwhile Rory stood outside, waiting hopefully. She felt almost sure Luke would let him stay, but she still was a little nervous. She really wanted him to stay with her now that they had finally admitted their feelings for each other.

She was just about to sit down and read when she heard someone coming back behind her. She turned around automatically. Her heart sank when she saw who it was.

"Dean" she sighed, as he walked up to her.

"Yeah" he said, looking upset. "It's me. Wow, I'm surprised you still remember my name"

"What are you…" she asked him, frowning, until she realized. "You saw us"

"Afraid so. Guess I should have seen that coming. You've probably been seeing each other way longer than this… what now? Two days? Yeah, that's right, it's only two days since we broke up and you're already all over him on the street. Nice. Okay, I know I've been stupid to fool myself for this long but do you really have to rub it in?"

He accused her of lying, cheating. Which wasn't true at all. Maybe she had stayed with him a little too long, but that was just because she had been scared. If she had lied to him she had also lied to herself. Her eyes filled with tears, as she just stood there, hurt and completely taken aback by this new Dean that suddenly showed himself.

"Hello? Rory? Trying to talk to you here. Now tell me. How is he in bed? Good, huh? Bet you're really close to each other since a long time back, if you know what I…"

"Dean, stop" she begged, crying now. "Please. I'm sorry, I really am, but it's not like that and you know that, you know me, you know I'd never do that to you"

"I don't know anything anymore" Dean whispered, seeming weak for a second as he trembled a bit.

He started to move in closer, even though they were already standing at a normal talking distance, forcing her to back up against a wall in the corner, away from everyone's eyes. She stopped as the wall came up behind her, but he didn't, he continued approaching her until his face was only inches from hers. She couldn't believe it at first but there was alcohol on his breath. He had never been drunk before, she knew that, so this scared her. Still she felt a bit sorry for him, so she tried talking to him again.

"Dean. Could you please let me go now?" she asked, not crying at the moment, but still with a shaking voice.

He didn't answer.

When she tried getting away he grabbed her wrist. Tight. Really, really tight.

"Not so hard" she begged, tears filling her eyes again. "Please, Dean, you're hurting me!"

"You mean like you hurt me?" he just said, no mercy in his eyes, as his hand pressed even harder around hers. She could feel the blood stop running there now, he was strong.

A second later he hit her. His other hand, her cheek. Bam.

"Like that, you mean?" he said, now almost laughing hollowly as she frowned with the pain. "Or like that?"

He raised his fist to hit her again, for real this time. She closed her eyes, just waiting for more. But it didn't come. Dean got interrupted by a voice, another voice than the two of them. Jess's voice.

There it was again. He called her name. She hesitated. She really wanted to call him too, but she was scared of what Dean might do to her if she did. Although Jess was close enough to come find her directly, so she decided she could.

"Jess!" she screamed.

At first Dean just looked at her, confused. Then his expression became threatening again.

"Don't tell him. I'll… I'll kill you both"

After saying that he just turned around and left.

**A/N: **Reviews make me up-date fast and for next chapter we have some lit fluff coming up, so… Please leave a little review to me…


	5. The Safety Of An Arm

**A/N **Thank you so much for all the reviews! I am so glad you enjoyed it! So here you go with a really fast up-date. That is what they do to me… Take that into consideration and please leave another review after this chapter!

5. The Safety Of An Arm

"Rory!" Jess called again, as he had followed her yelp and found her there, sunken to the ground, shaking. "Rory, are you okay?"

She had her face covered in her hands and her knees up close to her. She was crying.

He hurried over to her and sat down beside her. Really worried now he asked demanding "What happened?".

When she still didn't answer he sighed deeply. "You want me to go"

But as he started to get up she finally spoke with a tiny weak voice "Don't go"

"What's going on?" he asked, now more gently.

"I can't tell you" she whispered, still hiding behind her hands.

"Please. Rory, you're freaking me out here, I gotta know what's wrong"

"But… he's going to kill us, both of us, he said he'd…" she wept on.

"Who?" he demanded. "Rory, who said that?"

She remained quiet, except for the occasional sobs.

"Even if he did threaten to do that, he won't know if you tell me or not."

"You have to promise you won't do anything about it"

"I don't even know what…" he protested.

"You have to promise" she insisted, now looking up at him, her face all red and swollen.

She looked so small, he thought. Seeing her upset like that broke his heart, and he just wanted to kill the person who had caused her to hurt this way. He hesitated, then he said:

"Okay, I promise" while he let his finger wipe a tear from her face.

"It's um… Dean… " she started, trying really hard to keep her voice steady now. "He was a bit upset after seeing you and me… and…" she interrupted herself, awaiting his reactions.

"He what?" Jess asked, his features not yet showing any sign of getting violent, so she decided it was safe to keep going.

"He…" she looked down at the ground, unable to look him in the eyes as she told him this. "He hit me" she whispered quietly, then looked up to meet his gaze again.

Jess simply stared at her for a moment, his expression blank. Then realization seemed to hit him and he got up faster than she had seen anyone before.

"I'm going to kill him" he mumbled matter-of-factly.

He was already on his way when she called him back, a hint of desperation in her voice.

"Jess! Don't, you promised!"

"But…" He stopped, looking helplessly back at her. "I can't just let him…"

"No, but it doesn't make anything better to fight him."

"It would make me feel better" he sighed.

"Well, not me" she said, now a hint of a small smile on her face. "You could get hurt, and that would just make everything worse, for both of us. Please just stay here with me" she begged him, all serious again.

Jess just stood there for a while, seemingly thinking the situation over. Then he sat down beside her again, this time putting his arm around her. She rested her head against his shoulder, thinking about how nice this felt, to have him here, close, holding her. She felt safe, protected by his strong arm. She closed her eyes in satisfaction. He thought about how scared she had looked, how he never wanted to let anything happen to her ever again, and held her tightly, taking in the smell of her hair.

There was silence between them. They didn't have to say anything. They just knew.

**A/N **Not as a dramatic chapter as the last one, but next time there is some more of that… You'll see…


	6. Last Week Car Crash, This Week Fights

**A/N **I just wanted to say a quick thank you thank you thank you to all of you who have read and reviewed my story. Love you all! So here you go with an up-date!

6. Last Week Car Crash, This Week Fights

"So… how did it go with Luke?" she asked after a while.

Jess looked down at her, smiling.

"It went fine"

"Really? So you can stay?"

He nodded, smiling even more at her excitement.

"Oh, that makes me so happy!" she shrieked and turned around to kiss him lightly.

He laughed, surprised at her sudden affection, but then held on to her just a little bit more so that she'd know he was happy too.

"You're here" she whispered contently.

After a while more of just sitting there, she started getting up, unwillingly.

"I think I should… get home now. My mom's gonna get worried and I think I better explain this whole new situation to her before she hears it from someone else"

"Okay" he said, trying not to show his slight disappointment. "You want me to come with?" he offered, seeing as she had done the same for him and even though he wasn't really longing to meet Lorelai he at least then had the opportunity to spend more time with Rory. So it wasn't all politeness. Although he wasn't too sad when she rejected.

"No, I don't think that'd be the best idea. No offence, but I think it's gonna take her a while to get used to this new… coupling" she explained as he already new. "You can follow me there though, I mean, if you want?" she added, hope apparent in her voice.

"Sure" he said. Then he got up too and they started walking across Stars Hollow together.

But they didn't get too far. As soon as they had come out of the little corner they had sat in, someone tackled Jess from behind. Dean came out of nowhere, hitting him hard in the back with his body, making him land a bit away, on the ground.

"Jess!" Rory yelled, worried.

But as she tried to approach him both guys shouted with one mouth "Stay out of the way"

So she did. That fall didn't seem to have caused Jess that much damage, as he soon was up on his feet again, no pain in his features, only pure hatred.

He and Dean started moving closer to each other slowly, both looking as though they wanted to kill the person in front of them with their bare hands. Rory just watched, terrified, as they started fighting for real. The punches seemed to hit them a little bit everywhere, but neither seemed to care. Not until Dean also had started kicking Jess here and there and Jess seemed to be loosing, Rory woke up and realized she didn't have to just stand there, helplessly. Luke's was right around the corner and she ran for help.

"Luke!" she called desperately as she entered the diner.

He was behind the counter and now hurried towards her, looking worried. "Rory, what's the matter?" he asked as she tried to catch her breath.

"Jess… Dean… fighting… out there" was all she could get out, but he got it and rushed out of there with an expression of determination and a hysterical Rory right behind him.

He broke them apart quickly, making Dean run away faster than ever. After that both Luke and Rory just stood there for a while, watching Jess lying on the ground, frowning a bit with the pain of Dean's last punch hard in his stomach, which had made him loose his breath. He was panting slightly, but Luke thought he'd caught them right in time before his nephew could have been really hurt. He made sure Jess was all right before leaving them alone again. Rory had just stood there, frozen, terrified. Now Luke was gone she knelt down beside Jess, crying of both relief and delayed nervousness.

"You okay?" she whispered through the dim of tears.

Jess, who had been lying flat on the ground, made an attempt to get up. He grimaced as he leaned on his elbows that had been rather scratched during his fall and groaned a little with pain, which made Rory cry even harder so he banned himself silently for letting it slip.

"It's all right" he mumbled, trying to convince her. "I'm fine"

"Really?" she asked doubtfully.

"Yeah" he said, now looking her straight in the eyes, concentrating hard on not showing any sign of lying.

"And you're not just telling me that cause I'm crying and you don't wanna worry me and all this makes you uncomfortable?"

"No, that's not the only reason, no" he joked, trying to lighten up her mood. It worked a little, since she laughed quietly, even though it sounded more like sobs.

**A/N **Someone said that Jess would've done something to Dean to get revenge, not just let him get away with it. I think so too. He wouldn't have listened to Rory about that forever. However he realized that she needed him there right then so he put it up for a while and then Dean came first. And sorry that it was kind of Dean who had the advantage in the fight, for real I would have thought Jess would have kicked his ass and I don't really know why I didn't write it that way either… Well well, inspiration can be weird, huh.. Anyway, tell me what you think… oh, and beware for some serious lit fluff coming up next!


	7. The Behaviour Of A True Gentleman

**A/N **Thanks for the reviews! Now here comes the fluff… Read and enjoy and review!

7. The Behaviour Of A True Gentleman

Somehow they had gotten inside and up to Luke's, and now again Jess's, apartment. Jess lay on his bed and Rory sat beside him, holding an ice bag to his face, trying to avoid it swollening up completely. Right now she was moving it back to his crushed lip. Before it had been the soon-to-be-black eye and there was also a few other places.

"Too much pressure?" she asked for the umpteenth time, so afraid she might hurt him even worse.

"No, it's fine" he assured her.

"You keep saying that, but I can tell just by looking at you that it's not even remotely true" she sighed. "You don't have to protect me or anything. I know this must hurt, a lot, can't you please just admit it? Or are you too macho, you can't feel pain?"

He was quiet for a while, closing his eyes as she continued to dab his bruised face. Then he spoke in a small voice, still not opening his eyes.

"Of course it hurts" he sighed.

"The why'd you lie?" she asked, not accusing, just wondering.

"I… I don't know" he said, now looking up on her. "It just… seemed wrong to admit it"

"Why?"

"Well, I… I didn't wanna worry you" he said, his cheeks turning a little pink at this show of emotions and affection.

She noticed and smiled at him.

"You're blushing" she said, amused.

"Am not" he protested.

"Yes, you are" she teased him. "And I think it's sweet" she continued, running her hair through his hair. It felt really good to finally be able to touch it, to touch him. She had wanted to for so long, she realized now that she could.

"Will it hurt really badly if I kiss you?" she asked after a while.

He looked up at her questioning, so she continued explaining "Cause I kind of feel I have to right now, but if you don't think it'll work then…"

She stopped mid-sentence at his look of amusement, awaiting his answer instead of going on babbling.

"I think I can take it" he smiled.

"But are you sure, cause that lip looks…" she went on, but he interrupted her.

"I can take a little hurt. And if Rory Gilmore says she has to do something, who am I to deny her that pleasure?" he said with one of his famous smirks.

"Really?" she asked again.

"Yes!" he laughed, playing impatient. "My God woman, is that kiss coming soon or are we going to continue discussing its being or not being, do our own Shakespeare?"

"It is coming!" she giggled. "Patience, gentleman. Don't you know that a lady never can be rushed when it comes to this sort of business? It is actually very rude to try to encourage an innocent little girl into something quite of that sort, you know"

"What are you talking about? If my lady hasn't lost her memory she will remember that it actually was she, herself, who came up with this suggestion. The innocent gentleman, as will be me, is simply trying to get the matters around this clear"

"Well, that is true. However, the gentleman does not…"

He interrupted her again, this time by kissing her passionately. She responded directly and they shared a long deep kiss which neither of them seemed to want to end. He who had sat up as he kissed her now lay back down and she followed, never making a break in their kissing. She lay down on top of him, lightly, still afraid she might hurt him, but as he didn't show any sign of that she relaxed a bit. He put his arms around her waist and held her just tight enough so that she got that feeling of complete safety, like nothing could ever happen to her as long as she was with him. She had her hands up his hair which she never seemed to be getting tired of running her fingers through. For the first time they really got to feel and touch the other person like they had wanted to for so long.

"I probably should get home to my mom now, she must be wondering why I'm never coming" Rory said after they had lay there a while, making out on his bed.

He continued to kiss her neck for a moment, then looked up at her serious face.

"You really have to go, huh?" he sighed, looking disappointed.

"Yeah. Sorry" she said, smiling apologetically.

"No, it's okay" he said, leaning back on his elbows, which again made him cringe with pain.

She noticed and asked worriedly: "You're gonna be okay… right?"

"Of course" he assured her quickly. "It's just some scratches, really"

"I'm sorry" she mumbled, looking sad and eyes set on the floor.

"About what?" he asked, actually confused.

"This! You're hurting and if you say that's just some scratches then I am really curious to see how you look when you are really hurt. I mean, look at you!" she said, upset.

"It's not your fault" he said quietly.

"Yes it is!" she insisted. "It was Dean who did it and he did it because of me and… I don't really know what I could have done to stop it, but…"

"You couldn't have done anything" Jess interrupted her, shaking his head. "And it really isn't as bad as it looks. Even though it is pretty bad right now, yes, but it will be fine"

He added the last part as she was about to protest.

"You sure?" she said, still looking concerned.

"Yes" he said, rolling his eyes. "Now go back to your mom before she sends after the fire squad to come find you"

She seemed to be thinking that over for a second before she said: "See you tomorrow?"

"Absolutely" he said, smiling at her begging expression.

"Kiss before I go please?"

"As the lady wishes" he smirked and gave her another kiss. "Now get OUT of here"

**A/N **That was some serious fluff, huh? Well, tell me how you liked it!


	8. Telling The Mother

**A/N **I will here be bringing Lorelai into the story. That is scary for me, I have not written much with her before. Please tell me how I am doing!

8. Telling The Mother (At Least Some Bits And Pieces)

"Hey mom!" Rory called as she got in the house. "Mom, are you there?"

Lorelai came rushing from the living room, looking a bit upset.

"Where have you been? I expected you back hours ago"

"I know, I'm sorry"

"Time flew by with Lane, huh?"

"Um… actually no" Rory took a deep breath "I was with Jess" she admitted, guilty-looking and awaiting her mother's reaction nervously.

"With Jess?" Lorelai said with a very fake smile. "Oh, so… you were with Jess. I'm sorry, but didn't he move back to New York?" she asked in what was supposed to be a casual tone, but Rory could see right through it.

"Yes, he did" she confirmed, nodding. "But not anymore" she added.

"Oh" Lorelai tried to hide her disappointment. "Really? So… does this mean the two of you…?"

"Yeah" Rory confessed, unable to keep a smile off her face.

"Well, tell me then, how did this happen?" Lorelai asked, seeing her daughter's happiness and really wanting to be happy for her.

"Okay. I went to New York today to visit him…"

"Hold on here. You went to New York! You told me you were just going over to hang at Lanes place!" she said accusative.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lie to you, I didn't plan it. It just sort of… happened. Are you mad?" she asked uncertainly.

Lorelai hesitated for a moment.

"No. Of course I'm not mad. I know how this is, you do things unplanned. I get it. Please continue"

"So, I was in New York and we just sort of hung out for a while, you know, reading. Really!" she said as her mother was looking at her sceptically. "Then I kind of told him about my break-up with Dean and then… we sort of kissed"

"You kissed?"

"Yeah"

"You and Jess… kissed?"

"Yes"

Lorelai took a deep breath as she tried to process this news, before she said "Go on"

"All right. He followed me back here and he asked Luke if he could come back and stay with him and he said yes, so… he's back"

"He's back"

"Yep" Rory said with a big smile.

"And you're happy about this?"

"Absolutely. You?" she asked, kind of afraid of what her mother would think about this.

"Me? Oh, I don't know" she said, trying to get out of answering.

"Mom, please" begged Rory, completely serious.

"If you like him then I guess I do to. And you're sure this is what makes you happy?"

"Yeah"

"Then I'm happy too, hon" she said, trying really hard to mean it.

Rory had thought about telling her mother about all the stuff that happened with Dean, but she had decided not to. She just didn't know how. She knew that Lorelai really liked Dean and that it would be hard for her to believe that he had done such a thing. Maybe she wouldn't, Rory thought. Maybe she would find some weird way of making the fight scene Jess's fault. No. She wouldn't tell her. Not right now. Lorelai had too much on her mind with the whole her and Jess getting together business, it had to be enough for one day, Rory decided.

As she was going to sleep however, her mind was kept occupied. Lorelai hadn't seemed too happy about her and Jess, she hadn't seemed happy at all. That made Rory sad. She really really liked Jess and she really wanted her mother to like him too, at least accept him. Her attempts to play happy for them before had failed, enormously. Wasn't there any way she could get her to be okay with this? Anyone who could convince Lorelai that Jess really wasn't so bad?

**A/N **Ok, this chapter was kind of in-between things… It'll get better, I think… Anyway, I will be going away for about a week so I won´t be able to give you any up-dates for a little while. Sorry! But hey, don't feel bad, I'll be going to a writing camp, so hopefully when I get back I will be writing even better, hehe… Well, please leave a review to me anyway, that way I will be sure to get the next chapter out here as soon as I get home and plus, you will make me very very happy!


	9. The Talk

**A/N **So… I am back from writing camp now (even though I did my best to avoid that from ever happening). I had an amazing time and thanks to all of you both for reviewing and wishing me good luck, cause I so did. Now sorry for this taking so long to post, but well, I had my excuse. And now, about this chapter. I´m not sure about it, not at all. It is kind of out of character, and I am aware that this would totally never happen on the show (you'll see what I'm talking about) but well, I always think stuff like this is so cute and it was in my mind. Don't know what you'll think, but I would love for you to tell me! And I promise next chapter will be more Gilmore girls-y, or at least I think so, but well, now I'm gonna stop with the rambling and just let you read.

9. The Talk

Luke had just closed up the diner and headed up to his apartment. When he saw Jess there he was a little surprised at first, having forgot all the events of the day during a very busy night with a particularly annoying Kirk.

"Oh, right, you're… here" he mumbled as he remembered.

"Yep. Still here" came Jess's voice from the bed, his nose deep into the book he was reading.

Luke turned on the light and gasped when he got a real look at his nephew. His face was swollen on several places, one of his eyes had turned black, his lip was covered with dried blood. His elbows were extremely scratched and Luke was sure there was more damage, hidden by Jess's clothes. He just stared at him for a while, then said "Wow. You look… awful"

"Gee, thanks" said Jess, looking up, a bit annoyed.

"No, I mean… I didn't know it was that bad"

Jess shrugged, beginning to read again.

"It's nothing"

"Nothing!" Luke asked, unbelievingly. "You call that nothing?"

"It's not that bad" Jess said, still avoiding eye contact.

"Jess. Come on. You sure you're okay?"

Jess was quiet for a while, then he mumbled "No"

"Jess?" Luke said, now taking a few step forwards to him. "You know you can talk to me right?"

Jess nodded, but he didn't say anything. Luke stood there, waiting him in quietly. Then he heard him swallow really hardly and a minute later, Jess had completely turned away from him, hiding his face in his hands. Luke hesitated, then he sat down next to his nephew's back and put a hand on his shoulder. It was shaking slightly. Luke grabbed him a bit tighter, trying to show he was there and he wanted to help. A while they just sat like that. After Jess's crying seemed to have calmed down a bit Luke spoke "You gonna turn around?"

"No" Jess said firmly, even though his voice was a little shaky.

"You can, you know"

"No" he said stubbornly.

"Jess" Luke sighed.

Slowly he turned around. Puffy-eyed and still wet from the tears he just clumsily had tried to brush away Jess looked up at his uncle. Luke suddenly got filled with such a warmth for Jess. He looked so weak, like a little boy. Jess, who was always playing Mr Tough Guy with everyone, who could never go through a conversation seriously. Here he was, crying. In front of him, out of all people. He never would have believed that. Somehow it made him feel proud. Like he was the chosen one, someone Jess finally had accepted so much that he felt he even could lean on him a little. God, it was a great feeling. Like he really meant something.

They just looked at each other for a while, both completely serious. Then Luke let go of Jess's shoulder. In stead he put both his arms around him and pulled him into a close hug. Jess was tense at first, but after a while he softened. This was okay.

"Thanks, Uncle Luke" he whispered, just a tad ironically.

"So… um… you're with Rory now, I assume?" Luke said after they broke apart, trying to get the uncomfortable tension out of the air.

"How'd you know?" Jess asked, looking a bit confused, but not disapproving of this subject.

"Oh, well, let's think about it. You say she came to New York after you, and you came back here, Stars Hollow, because of her. Then she waits for your answer from me, assumingly cause she really wants you here. You get into a fight with her ex boyfriend, which probably means he had some reason to get jealous at you. She rushes to get help and it wasn't Dean she was concerned about and then you two looked pretty close as she helped you upstairs earlier and she was with you a looong time up there and…"

"Okay, I get it" Jess interrupted him, fake-annoyed, but actually rather pleased as he remembered the events of the day. It really did seem like she cared about him when you put it like that, and he liked that conclusion. He liked it a lot.

Unaware of it, Jess was smiling dreamingly as he thought of that. Luke noticed that and thought for a while about making use of this wonderful mocking opportunity, but as Jess's eyes were still red he was afraid of ruining this new closeness with him, so he decided not to.

"You really like her, don't you?" he asked in stead.

"Yeah" said Jess, waking up from his ponderings, slight embarrassed it had been that obvious what he was thinking.

"And…" Luke now entered the really uncomfortable area of this conversation "You know she isn't very… you know… experienced… with the whole guy thing… right?"

"You mean sex?" Jess smirked, trying to make this as painful for Luke as possible.

"Well… yes, I do. And I'm sure you have had lots of girls and I'm not saying…"

"What Luke? What are you not saying?"

Luke, discovering that Jess was only trying to mess with him sighed and said "Just… take care of her, Jess. And by care I do not mean getting her pregnant, just so we're clear"

"Geez Luke, relax" Jess said, sneering. "Believe me, I don't want her getting pregnant any more than you do"

"As long as we agree on that"

"God, I never thought I'd have that talk with someone" Jess said, more to himself, a few minutes later. "I've seen people have it on TV, I just never thought anyone would bother to have it with me"

Jess didn't even look up from his book and he probably wasn't expecting an answer, so Luke remained quiet. Still he couldn't help taking a good look at his nephew and smile a bit, being glad to have him back.

**A/N **Told you it was weird and not likely to happen. But well, it just sort of came out that way. Now review, review, review!


	10. The Pouting Faces Of The Adorable

**A/N **Thanks for not being too mean about that last chapter lol… Well, this is hopefully not as much my weird wishful taking of the show as the last one. Read, enjoy and do not forget to review!

10. The Pouting Faces Of The Adorable Gilmore Girls

Luke was standing at the counter, fixing with the cashier as Rory walked up to him, a pretty nervous expression on her face. He noticed her presence but kept his head bowed down. He knew that face and he knew what came with it.

"Luke?" Rory asked him, innocently.

"Yes, Rory" he answered, still not looking up at her.

"Well, I was just wondering" she started.

"Yes?"

"If I could… ask you a small favour?"

He finally raised his head, meeting her pleading smile.

"How small?" he asked suspiciously.

"Teeny tiny" she assured him quickly.

He gave in, knowing there was no way he could get out of asking her this now. "What is it?"

"No way!" he stated after her explanation was finished.

"But, please Luke…" she whined.

"No" he declared again, trying to ignore the disappointment in her eyes. This he simply could not do for her. "Just forget it!"

"I know if you just talked to her you could make up and then you could somehow convince her that Jess isn't so bad after all… You know he isn't! She's got that idea stuck in her head and she is just being stubborn"

"Such a relief it doesn't run in the family" he grunted sarcastically.

"Please" she begged, pouting with her lip and giving him the biggest eyes she could possibly perform.

He looked at her a minute, then he sighed helplessly. "Oh all right, fine, I'll do it"

"Really?" she squeaked and gave him a large smile. "You'll do it, you'll talk to mom for me?"

"I guess I am" he grumbled.

She ran around the desk and hugged him tightly.

"Thanks Luke" she said, as she met his gaze happily.

"I can't believe all the crap the two of you make me do" he murmured, but he had to admit it felt nice having made her so happy.

As he stood on their porch, about to ring the bell, he regretted his agreement to this deeply. Why oh why did he always have to fall for their begging, pleading expressions? He really had to learn how to be able to reject them. He raised his hand to ring, but he couldn't make it all the way. He couldn't do this. She wouldn't want to see him. She had been so mad at him the last time they had encountered. He couldn't just expect her to forgive that. He had to apologize if he was going to talk to her. He wasn't very good at that, not very good at all. He always had trouble expressing feelings. Oh my God, he couldn't believe he had put himself in this position. He couldn't back out now, he couldn't let Rory down. He had to do this. And just when he finally put his hand on the bell to ring it, the door opened.

"Hi" Lorelai said, confused, as she found herself facing Luke. He didn't say anything, so she continued "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Well… I…" _Come on, you gotta say something more than that, okay? Anything, anything at all!_ "I just came by to…" _All right, here we go _"I'm sorry" he sighed, finally giving up his pride "I didn't mean to get all mad at you that night, I know you were just worried and scared cause your kid was hurt and I… I didn't mean to yell at you and make everything worse for you, it was just that, you know I care about Rory and I would never do anything to…"

She interrupted him. "I know"

She sighed too. "Of course I know. I'm sorry for all those accusations, I didn't mean any of it, I was just… upset"

"Understandable" he nodded.

"So… we okay?" she asked, a bit uncertainly, but almost smiling at him.

"Yeah" he confirmed, also grinning.

"Oh that makes me so happy!" she squealed, pulling him into a tight hug, very much reminding him of Rory's behaviour just a few minutes before.

"Wow, you two really are mother and daughter, huh?" he mumbled under his breath.

She looked up at him, frowning. "What do you mean?"

"Um… nothing" he said, banning himself for letting that comment slip.

"Luke…" she said warningly.

"She wouldn't want me to tell you" he sighed.

"Well I'm the mother, I decide what to be told and not to be told and this I decide… hmmm… you tell me!"

He hesitated, but as she pouted and gave him even bigger puppy eyes than Rory's before, he gave in, again. "Promise you won't tell her"

"Definitely, you know how great I am with keeping a secret" she smiled.

"I am afraid I do know and that is what worries me. You have to promise"

"Well…" she pretended to think the matter over for a second. "All right, I am going to ignore your insulting disbelief in my secret keeping abilities and I am going to prove you wrong" she stated.

"Okay. Well, she came to talk to me this morning, that was when she behaved similar to you. She wanted me to go talk to you, because… You don't like her boyfriend and…"

"Hey I never said that" she interrupted him, offended.

"Oh so you don't hate Jess now?" he asked her sceptically.

"Well, yeah, I do, but I didn't tell her that!"

"She knows" he told her.

"How?" Lorelai sighed.

"Well… no offence, but you can be pretty obvious… And Rory knows you, she can tell"

"I didn't want her to know that"

"But she does. And she is kind of upset about it. You really should try giving him a second chance, he actually isn't that bad…"

"Why does she have to care what I think?" she whined.

"Because you are her mother, of course it matters. Look, Jess is a good kid, you could just try not to hate him for a while. For Rory"

Lorelai was quiet for a while.

"Okay, okay. I'll try. For Rory"

"Good girl" he mocked her, patting her on the back, only half-teasing. At the same time a part of him just wanted to touch her.

"God, it would have been so much easier if she would have just stayed with Dean" she ranted.

"Are you kidding?" he said sceptically.

"No"

She looked honestly bewildered. Disbelieving, he asked "You don't know?"


	11. MakeUp Doesn´t Always Last

**A/N **Thanks for the reviews! And SailorGadget, here I am updating and I don't see any ice cream, hehe… Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I am a big Dean hater myself, which probably is obvious from this story, but well… Here comes the next chapter!

11. Make-Up Doesn't Always Last

"Know what?" she asked, confused.

"Yesterday!" he said, a slight frustrated. She must know what he was talking about.

"What happened yesterday?"

She really didn't know. That surprised him a lot. Why hadn't Rory told her? And should he really be the one to fill her in instead?

"I'm not sure I should tell you…" he tried, but she looked at him sternly and said warningly:

"Tell me what, Luke?"

"There was a fight" he sighed. "Between Dean and Jess"

"What, why? Did he attack Dean, that little…"

"No, he did not" Luke interrupted her sharply. "Jess didn't do anything, except maybe defend himself and even that he didn't do enough. I had to come out and break them apart, otherwise that saint Dean of yours would have killed my nephew with his bare hands"

She was sitting in silence for a while, feeling a bit sheepish. She didn't want them to get into yet another fight over Jess.

"So… Dean started it?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, he did. Not so perfect after all when jealousy comes in the picture"

"Ah… that's right, he must've been devastated, seeing Rory with Jess so soon after…"

"No, no. Do not try to make this into Jess's fault" said Luke, getting upset.

"I wasn't, I was just saying maybe we shouldn't judge Dean too hard over this, he's just a hurt kid… It can't have been that bad"

"Can't have been…" Luke said disbelievingly. "You should see my nephew's face and you wouldn't say that!"

"Bad huh?" she asked quietly.

"Bad! Oh yeah, I would say bad! You couldn't even recognize him if it wasn't for the scent of hair gel around him. Black eye, crushed lip, whole face all swollen!" he shouted as he started storming away.

But she followed him and she grabbed him by the arm and got him to turn around. His expression was upset and he was panting slightly from his latest rant. She took a step forward so that she came really close to him.

"Luke, I'm sorry, I didn't know" she whispered, her eyes filled with tears and her voice with regret. "I just wouldn't think Dean… But I believe you, of course I do" she assured him as he opened his mouth to say something.

"It's okay" he said after a while of watching the tears take form in her eyes. "It's just that… it really wasn't Jess's fault"

"I know, Luke, I trust you, you know I do. Please don't be mad at me, I can't stand another day without your wonderful coffee" she pouted.

"Oh, so that's all she wants me for, the caffeine" he said, playing offended.

"No" she whispered, suddenly serious again. "She really needs you. For other things too"

"Well, it is lucky for her that he forgives easily then" he said, putting an arm around her shoulder as he started leading her even more away from the house.

"Whoa, where are we going?" she giggled.

"To get you some coffee. You probably couldn't stand being without it much longer, I hear" he said teasingly.

"Ah… you know me too well. My super hero" she smiled contently as she leaned her head against his shoulder while they walked. "Mr Brings-Me-Coffee doesn't sound cool enough though… Neither does The Coffee Supply Guy…" she said thoughtfully.

"We'll work on the name" was his response to her babble and he smiled back at her.


	12. Hey, We At Least Have One Person

**A/N **First of all, answers to some questions. Luke didn't tell Lorelai about Dean hitting Rory of the simple reason that he was not aware of that happening. Jess hadn't confided him in that. And I know this is a Lit story, but I am going to make it kind of JJ too and a little just Gilmore Girls-y. Hope you won´t get too upset with me cause there won´t always be Lit interaction… Oh and thank you very much for the ice cream!

12. Hey, We At Least Have One Person In Common

Lorelai was just on her way back from Luke's when she almost knocked into someone on the street. He was keeping his head down so that his face wouldn't show and she was just lost in her own thoughts, so neither of them were really paying attention to where they were walking.

"Geez, look out" he mumbled irritably.

"Sorry" she said quickly and without noticing who it was she was almost about to just walk off. But as she had turned around she woke up and realized she had just met Jess, the Jess who was her daughter's new boyfriend and who had recently been beat-up by her former one.

"Jess!" she called back after him.

"What?" he asked impatiently and without turning around.

"Can't you just turn around and look at me when I talk to you? You are from what I hear the boyfriend of my daughter now and she'd probably want you to be at least some form of civil to her mother" she ranted.

Sighing, he turned and faced her. She gasped when she got sight of his destroyed face.

"Yeah, okay, it isn't pretty, can I please go now or was it anything else?" he said annoyed, uncomfortable by her staring.

"Wow… That looks… You look… terrible. Are you okay?"

"Oh, so you are concerned about me now? That's funny, I'd thought you'd be thrilled, or disappointed that he didn't get to finish me off completely"

Lorelai sighed.

"Okay, I'm sorry for the way I have behaved with you before. I… guess I have given you reasons for that attitude. But couldn't you please drop it now that you're with Rory? Cause I really need to like you, cause she really wants me too and I… I'm going to try and I don't think it would hurt you to try and make it just a tad easier for me. For Rory" she added. "You know she would love it if we got along better. Please. For her. You wanna make her happy, right?"

He was quiet for a while, thinking what she had said over. She was right. Rory had once asked him to befriend with her mom and he did want to make her happy.

"All right" he muttered, loosing at least mostly of the sarcastic tone. "For Rory"

"Look, just pretend I'm not me. Um… pretend I am Rory" she suggested.

"You want me to make out with you?"

"No" she assured him, a bit annoyed. "No, it's just that… Obviously you show some side of you to her that I don't see. Show me that sometime"

He shrugged and mumbled "I'll try"

"Hey, if it's any consolation to you, I didn't like Dean at the beginning either and…"

He frowned a bit at the hearing of that name, so that she stopped mid-sentence to say "Sorry". Then she continued "But then we got kind of close and I really got to like him, hey, now I even like him better than Rory does"

"How can you say that?" Jess asked, upset at her still liking Dean.

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking confused.

"What do you mean what do I mean, you know what I mean"

"Whoa, those were lots of means and no, I don't know what you mean, I have no idea what you mean! Or are you talking about you fighting, cause that's bad, but…"

"No, I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about before!" he said, getting frustrated.

"What before!" she yelled, with even more frustration.

He calmed down a bit and then asked seriously and with one eye-brow raised in disbelief "You really don't know?"

"Apparently I don't. Please fill me in here"

"Well, I don't know if I should be the one to… Rory really hasn't told you about what happened with her and Dean yesterday?"

"No" Lorelai said quietly. "She didn't tell me anything about all this, Luke told me about the fight. Now please just let me know what the hell is going on here" she said in a begging voice, a sad look in her eyes at the thought of that.

Jess decided to ignore that and started telling her.

"Well… you know he got really upset about loosing Rory to me"

"Yes" Lorelai said, in her tone indicating that he should cut to the case.

"It wasn't just me he got upset with" Jess told her quietly, looking down on his feet.

"Continue" she said sharply.

"He… attacked her, I think. He hit her. I'm not sure exactly what happened, that bastard was gone before I got there and she was just left there, crying and…" he said, not comfortable talking about this with her, it was too emotional and God, he hated Dean and he wanted to kill him, but that he didn't tell her, he couldn't express such feelings to her, so he remained quiet after that.

At first Lorelai just stood there, staring at him blankly, as if she couldn't take in what he had just said. Then she suddenly woke up and a hot rage reached her eyes.

"That bastard is going to get what's coming to him" she mumbled before she started sprinting off to Doose´s. Jess was just left there, looking after her, thinking about the weird conversation they just had.

**A/N** Sorry, no Lit interaction in this chapter either. But at least some Jess, that's something right? Oh, and I won´t be up-dating as frequently as before because of the very tragic reason that school has now started and I do not have as much time. Sorry…


	13. Time To Let Go For Some, Time To

**A/N **New chapter, hope you'll like…

13. Time To Let Go For Some, Time To Rethink For Others

"Dean!" she called as she entered the market. "Dean, come outside with me a second, will you?" she added with a put on smile.

"Um… well… I don't have a break for another half an hour, but…" he mumbled, looking down at the floor, avoiding Lorelai's gaze.

"I think they'll manage, right Taylor?" she said with such force that even Taylor broke down and said "Well, yeah, all right"

"So, bag boy, no excuses left. Come on!" she said as she started dragging him out of the store.

"Lorelai, calm down" he said pleading as they were facing each other on the street, she still holding the firm grip on his arm.

"No, I will not calm down, I don't wanna calm down" she yelled. "What the hell is wrong with you? How could you do something like that?"

He just stood there, quietly, so she shook his arm a little and added a "Huh?"

"Listen, Lorelai, I'm sorry" he said, looking ashamed.

"Oh, you're sorry, that helps a lot. This is inexcusable, you can't possibly have any explanation for doing something like that to anyone, ever. And to Rory! God, I thought you cared about her, I thought you loved her!" she shouted, causing stares from people who passed by, but she neither noticed nor cared.

"I do" he said, now looking up at her for the first time for real.

"Well, you sure have a funny way of showing it!"

"Look, I know I shouldn't have done that" he sighed. "It was really stupid. But I just… I love her so much and then she just betrayed me like that. You have to see my side here, Lorelai! And I'm not saying that wasn't wrong, I just… I did it because I love her"

"Oh no, don't give me any of that crap, save it for someone who gives a damn about you. God, I can't believe I tried to convince Rory to stay with you" she spitted out the last word with as much disgust she could up bring. "Compared to you now Jess looks like a saint"

"Don't talk to me about him" he said, clenching his fists. "I really hate that guy"

"Well, that we have all noticed. But geez man, you gotta let it go" she sighed.

"It's not that easy" he mumbled.

"Leave them alone" she said, with a warning note in her voice. "Neither of them has done anything to you. You have no right to do anything to either one of them!"

"That's not true, that jerk stole Rory from me!"

"He didn't steel her, she makes her own choices. And it's not a crime to fall for someone else, nor to be the one she falls for. You have to let it go. Now!" she added, the anger back into her voice.

He just nodded, then walked away, not back into the market, just away.

"So… you're with Jess now?" Lane asked as they sat together on Rory's bed.

"Yep" Rory answered with a big smile playing on her lips, but a little worry in her eyes as she asked "What do you think of that? Do you hate him like everyone else?"

"I don't really know him" Lane shrugged.

"Well, now you will get the chance" Rory stated, grinning.

"You sure he's gonna be into hanging out with your lame best friend? He's not like Dean, you know"

"I know he's not like Dean and that I am very happy of. Jess would never hit me" she said sharply.

"Oh, right, I forgot. Sorry" Lane said, looking sheepish.

"And plus, of course he'll hang out with you! You're my best friend and he is my boyfriend and if you just get to know each other I know you will like him and he will like you. He has a really good taste in music, you know"

"He has?"

"Definitely. So you can trust him?"

"He crashed your car" Lane pointed out.

"I've told you, it was an accident" Rory sighed. "It really wasn't his fault"

"If you say so"

"I do. So you'll give him a chance?"

"I guess"

"So I can talk to you about him?"

"Absolutely" she said, nodding approvingly. "Why, you got some more good gossip?" she asked eagerly.

"Maybe" Rory teased with a playful smile.

"Oh, come on, you know I have no life of my own. Tell me, tell me!"

"Okay" Rory chuckled at Lane's impatience. "I will. Well, there was this fight with Dean and Jess you know…"

"Ah, that must be so great to have two guys fighting over you like that…" Lane interrupted her looking dreamy.

"I guess it could've been" Rory said thoughtfully. "But it wasn't, it was really scary. Dean was sooo mad, he looked like he was ready to kill Jess"

"Yeah. Maybe not so fun"

"No. But then, after…"

"Oh, I wanna hear the after" Lane squeaked.

"Patience" Rory laughed. "He was hurt and so, I dabbed his wounds with ice"

"Ew" Lane said, looking disgusted.

"No, it wasn't gross. This might seem totally weird, but it was actually… romantic"

"Dabbing his wounds?" Lane asked sceptically.

"Yeah. I was close to him and I got to touch him and… well, he said some sweet stuff and…"

"Jess said sweet stuff?" Lane asked, a little doubtfully but mostly surprised.

"You don't know him, you'll be amazed. He's really great. And then he blushed and then I told him I just had to kiss him and then I did and… when we had started we never wanted to end so we just lay there, making out on his bed for I don't know how long"

"Aw" Lane said, smiling. "You really like him, don't you?"

"Well, yes, I do" Rory confirmed it, returning the smile.

"So when are you gonna see him again?"

"Tonight. We're gonna have the apartment to ourselves until the diner closes"

"That is so great" Lane sighed. "Promise you'll tell me all the dirty details afterwards?"

"Promise" Rory beamed.

"And leave nothing out!" she insisted.

**A/N **School truly sucks. Don't know when I'll be able to up-date again, but well, we'll see. Hope you don't hate me for lack of Lit interaction, but at least they are talking about them and their relationship, that's something right? And I have that date in the apartment coming up soon, so you have something to look forward to…. Well well, that's all of interest I've got to say, now all that's left is me begging for some reviews. So. Please please please tell me what you think!


	14. The One With All The Knows

**A/N **New chapter! Both in this and my other story **Never All Alone **if anyone of you read that. In an up-dating mood today. Hope you like!

14. The One With All The Knows

"So… what fancy plans do you and Jess have for your first date tonight?" Lorelai asked, trying to be casual about the two of them.

"Well… it's nothing fancy really. We thought we'd just hang out at his place, watch a movie and get some food from the diner" Rory told her, as she was running around trying to get ready.

"Not fancy can be good too" Lorelai said as Rory ran passed her in the living room and went back upstairs to finish her make-up. She sighed and then she called "Hey, any chance you could take a break from this frantic beautification and come talk to me for a sec?"

"In a moment" Rory called back, just laying the final touches on her mascara.

When she came downstairs Lorelai looked at her and said, almost touched "Honey, you look beautiful"

"I hope so" Rory said as she observed herself critically.

"You do" Lorelai smiled at her. "If he doesn't think so then he can't possibly have working eyes"

"You think?" Rory asked hesitantly as she smoothened her shirt a little.

"I think" Lorelai nodded confidently. "Now, could you sit down a sec here?"

Rory did as she was told, a puzzled expression on her face.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I know" sighed Lorelai.

"You know what?" asked Rory, still looking confused.

"I _know_" said Lorelai again.

Rory got it now and let out a small "Oh" as she looked down on her hands.

"Yeah" said Lorelai. "But honey why didn't you tell me about all this? You know you can talk to me right?"

"Yeah, I know" Rory sighed. "I don't really know why" she started to explain. "It was just so much that had happened that day and I saw you had a lot of information to process already, I didn't think it´d be good to add all this too. And… I know you loved Dean and I… you were already upset because I was with Jess who you hate, I just couldn't take disappointing and worrying you even more with this, you know"

"That's sweet" Lorelai said quietly. "But I don't want you to feel you have to hide stuff like this from me, I can handle it"

"I know you can, I just couldn't! To form those words again and see your reaction after dealing with Jess's. It was too much in one day, so I sort of… chickened out. Are you mad?" she asked nervously.

"Of course I'm not mad" Lorelai said and then she pulled her daughter into a tight hug.

"Watch the hair, the hair, the hair, the hair!" Rory screeched, laughing.

"How did you know?" Rory asked frowning after a while.

"Just some… chatty guys, you know"

"Luke… and Jess?" Rory asked, looking sceptical.

"And Dean" Lorelai said, confirming.

"The power you have over the men in this town is fascinating"

"Funny, I was gonna say the same thing to you, missy" Lorelai said, playfully accusative. "You get Luke to talk to me about Jess, you get Jess on the hook so badly that he even agreed to try and get along with me after we had a quite pleasant conversation with some big words and well… Dean we don't even have to mention"

"No. We don't" said Rory, looking a bit upset. Then she looked up "You talked to him? Why, before you knew or…?"

"Nope, after. First Luke, then Jess, then Dean"

"So… you…?" Rory asked without asking how bad that had gone.

"Well, he is still alive" Lorelai informed her. "I was mad, he made some pathetic attempts to apologize, I told him there was no point in trying and then I yelled at him some more. But I stormed off dramatically before I had hurt him physically, that's always something, right?"

"Yeah. Something" Rory mumbled. "You think you scared him enough that he'll leave us alone now?"

"Probably. But if something happens…"

"I know, I'll tell you"

"Good. Now go add some more blush, and quickly" she said and Rory ran up the stairs. "But don't run!" she reminded her, calling behind her.

"Wow, being a pretty lady is hard" Rory whined as she tried to walk fast but not too fast so that she'd get all sweaty.

"Oh, you have no idea, you are still young and gorgeous naturally. Just wait and see" she called dramatically.

**A/N **Please tell me what you think! How am I doing in writing Lorelai? I really admire people who have her down, because I think it is very difficult… Anyway, now I promise you that the next chapter will be some lit for real. The date is coming up. Hope you´ll like! And review review and then I will try to up-date as soon as I can!


	15. Hold Hands, Then Fight Afterwards

**A/N **Thanks for reviewing once again. Now here you go with some Lit fluff! Read, enjoy and leave a review if you are really nice…

15. Hold Hands, Then Fight Afterwards

Jess and Rory was sitting alone in the apartment. They had already eaten and were now watching some kind of horror movie. Jess thought it silly, but Rory seemed not to, so he didn't mention it. He checked his watch. Just a while left now before the diner closed and Luke would be up there, interrupting them, he thought. He looked over at Rory. Her eyes were plastered to the screen and wide in horror. He just rested his eyes at her for a while, not caring about the movie at all. Wow, she was pretty tonight. She was always, but it was extraordinary tonight. He felt good to know that he was the occasion. Rory let out a screech as someone murdered someone on the screen. He smirked to himself. She really was scared by this. Suddenly he noticed her hand lying next to him on the couch. The other one she was biting her nails off on, but this one just lay there, still. He felt a strong urge to take it and hold it. That must be why she had put it there, right? She wanted him to. She wouldn't think he was stupid… right?

Well, he did it anyway. He just lay his hand in hers and let his hand, as in a coincidence, surround hers. The move probably seemed casual, but he was really nervous for a moment that he had done something wrong. He held his breath. Then she grabbed his hand tightly and he could relax. He had done it right. After that he was just sitting there for a while, enjoying her hand in his and the sight of her sitting there. But he couldn't be calm too long, because after just a little while, Rory started to move closer to him. At first he wasn't sure, he thought he was just imagining it, but then he realized it was true. Suddenly she was so close to him that she was able to rest his head against his chest and… she did. He sat completely frozen for a moment, his whole body super-tensed. Until he finally had to breath out. Then he at the same time casually put his other arm around her, holding her closer. He wasn't sure about it, but he decided he had the courage now. She snuggled up even more to him as the movie started getting to a dramatic ending and he could feel her fast breaths on his neck. He really enjoyed this, the smell of her hair filling his senses and her closeness. She shuddered as something happened on the screen and he stroke her hair a little and held her just a tad tighter to let her know she was there with him, safe.

The movie got to an end. Rory hadn't paid much attention to it in the end, she was too busy taking in the pleasure of being there with Jess. She had pretended to be more scared than she actually was to make him comfort her. It had worked. He had held her so close that she hadn't been scared at all in the end. Now she looked up at him, whispering "Hey" as she met his gaze.

He looked down at her and whispered "Hey" back. She smiled and he thought she really looked genuinely happy. Which made himself smile wider than ever. He bent down his neck a little and she stretched up a bit until they came close enough that their lips could join together in a soft kiss.

"This was great" she whispered, her eyes closed as she leant back on his chest.

"Hey, it's nothing fancy, but…" he started.

"It was the perfect first date" she filled the sentence for him.

He nodded. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah" she whispered sincerely.

They started kissing again, more passionate this time. They sank back on the couch, she on top of him. She put her hands around his neck and rubbed him there so that she caused shivers down his spine. He had his hands on her back and his fingers had found their way under her shirt and were stroking her softly.

Suddenly they were interrupted. The door swung open and there was Luke. They had both completely forgotten everything about him. As he entered the room Rory was up from Jess within seconds and before anyone could say anything she had fled down the stairs.

"Thank you so much for scaring away my date" Jess mumbled sarcastically.

"Well, I'm kinda happy I got here in time. Jess, what are you doing, I thought you weren't gonna make her pregnant, I thought we agreed on that?"

"Yes, we did"

"And…?" Luke said, frustrated.

"What, did you see me getting her pregnant?"

"No, but you were pretty damn close from what I saw"

"Geez, relax, will you?" Jess said, getting annoyed.

"Just be careful" sighed Luke.

"Am planning to"

"Those things are never planned, you know. I mean, just look at Rory"

"Yeah, that's what I'm doing and I have to say I'm pretty glad Lorelai made that mistake cause otherwise she wouldn't be here"

"What are you saying, that just because it turned out good then you think it's okay to make Rory pregnant too. Ask Lorelai, I'm pretty sure she disagrees with you there"

Jess sighed and rolled his eyes. "No, of course I'm not saying I want her to get pregnant right now cause we're both in school and all and she's gonna go to Harvard like she always wanted and I'd never wanna be part of the reason she never got to fulfil her dream, no. I'm just telling you to relax and I'm saying that that was a really bad example because if, and only if, Rory and I had a kid someday and it turned out to be anything like its mother then you know it wouldn't be such a bad thing!" he said before storming out of the apartment.


	16. Early Mornings Aren´t Exactly Our

16. Early Mornings Aren't Exactly Our Proudest Moments

Rory awoke abruptly at the unbearable sound of their phone ringing. Just as she had opened her eyes she heard her mom's voice from upstairs.

"Who the hell calls at this hour?" she whined.

"It's past 8!"

"Yeah, that's exactly my point. Can you get that, hon?"

She yawned and stretched for a moment, then got up. "Okay, but you owe me"

"Thanks babe"

"Hello" Rory said tiredly into the phone.

"Well, good morning Rory" said Emily cheerfully.

"Hey, grandma" Rory said, trying to suppress another yawn.

"You weren't still in bed, were you?"

"No, no, of course not" Rory assured her, shaking her head to wake herself up.

"Good. It's never good to let your days go to waste by sleeping"

"I agree. So… what's going on?" Rory asked, trying to find out the reason for the phone call without being rude.

"Nothing much. I have a meeting at the DAR today and then I have to do a little shopping. But as a matter of fact, I have a question to ask you"

"Okay"

"Well, I was thinking of you the other day and I remembered that lovely boyfriend of yours that I always hear so much about. And you know, your grandfather is away on business this Friday so I was thinking you could invite him to come over with you"

"Invite Dean for dinner?" Rory asked, banning herself that she hadn't already told her grandmother about their break-up.

"Yes, wouldn't that be great?"

"Well, you know grandma, that wouldn't be such a good idea"

"Why not?" Emily asked, sounding disappointed.

Rory took a deep breath then said it "Because Dean and I are no longer together"

"Oh. May I require why?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"There was this… other guy. It wasn't fair to him, I wasn't in love with him anymore"

"So who's this other guy? Are you with him now?"

"Well, yeah, I am"

"Then I want to meet him! It's perfect, you can bring him to dinner instead"

"Um… okay" said Rory hesitantly. "I mean, I'll have to check with him, but I'm sure it'll work out"

"Good. Then I see you three on Friday"

"See you Friday. Bye grandma"

"Goodbye Rory"

She hung up the phone, then quickly ran up the stairs, calling "Mom!" with panic in her voice.

Lorelai sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes as Rory entered the room. "Honey, what's…?"

"It was grandma" she burst out.

"Oh. Bad, I get it. Go on"

"She asked me to bring Jess for dinner"

"Well, you don't have to accept…"

"See, that's the problem, I think I already did!"

"What? How?" asked Lorelai sympathetically.

"I'm not sure. I was tired and she cornered me and I had just told her about not being with Dean and… it's really early and I don't know, suddenly she seemed like I had already said yes and I didn't correct her and…"

"Well, that is the Gilmore way, you know" Lorelai sighed.

"Oh my God! I have to bring Jess to Friday Night Dinner. He's never gonna agree to come"

"You never know, I don't think he'll stand it if you pout long and hard"

"Oh my God" Rory whined again.

"Just ask him, it can't hurt. You may be surprised" she said, surprised herself as she didn't feel fake in saying nice things about him. "Now go back to bed!" she yawned, threatening to throw a pillow at her daughter.

**A/N **So… Now we have a FND coming up… And Jess still has got a black eye… You´ll see how that goes… Now please review! How did I do writing Emily? First time…


	17. Never Underestimate The Weakness Of The

**A/N **And I am once again, updating. This and my other story **Never All Alone**, both in one day. Boy, I really should be getting a life, huh?

17. Never Underestimate The Weakness Of The Gentlemen

"Just ask him" Lorelai said, puffing Rory on the arm as she watched Jess making coffee behind the counter. "Go now" she said impatiently.

Rory gave her mother one last miserable look, then walked over to him.

"Hey" she said as she nervously ran her hand through her hair.

"Hi" he said, without looking up. When she just remained standing there in front of him he said "What?"

"I just… I need to ask you something"

"Ask away" he said, shrugging and turning his attention back to the coffee pot.

_Okay, here we go,_ she thought, then she said very quickly "Can you come to dinner with us on Friday?"

"What?" he asked, unable to hear what she said.

She took a deep breath, then started explaining "My grandma called this morning and I answered even though I was barely awake, which was stupid can I learn for the future. She asked if I could bring my boyfriend to dinner on Friday, but she didn't mean you of course, since I haven't told her everything about all that yet, so I had to tell her that I have switched boyfriends now and then she said that it was perfect cause then you could come to dinner instead and I don't know how she does it but suddenly you have agreed to something without knowing it and now she kind of expects us, there, on Friday. So what do you say?" she said, still talking at speed, but now it was understandable.

He was quiet for a while, taking in what she had just said.

"I'm not sure about this…" he sighed.

"Please" she begged, pouting.

She made her eyes as big as she possibly could and fixed her face in an expression with mixed hopefulness and pleading. He smiled at her obvious persuasion attempts and looked down and shook his head. Then he muttered "You really want me to go, don't you?"

She nodded frantically, a playful smile entering her lips as she watched him give in.

He sighed deeply. "Do I know what I'm getting myself into here?"

"No, not really" she laughed cheerfully.

"Well then, I'm always up for a challenge"

"You'll come?" she asked happily, but surprised.

"Guess so" he said, smirking at her happiness as she planted a big kiss on his cheek before going back to her table.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she yelled after him.

Meanwhile, Luke had come over to their table.

"More coffee?"

"Really? You're seriously asking that? After all these years you apparently don't know me at all" Lorelai said, playing offended.

"Just thought I'd ask in case you for some reason had woke up today without the urge to destroy your body. Foolish, I know" he added at her expression of "duh".

"Always up for more coffee, and I am still alive after all these years, my system's probably already ruined, so why stop now?"

"Right. So we should never stop fighting wars, since so many people have already died it doesn't matter if we throw in some more?" he asked sarcastically.

"Exactly my point" she smiled at him. "Glad to be understood"

"Well, we sure are soul mates" he mumbled.

"Yes, we sure are. You – The Coffee Supply Guy and me – Miss… um… Coffee Drinker? No..."

She got interrupted as Rory joined them, beaming.

"You got him to go, huh?" Lorelai asked her, smiling back at her.

Rory nodded excitedly.

"See, I told you. Never underestimate the woman's powers to persuade a man"

"Guess you were right"

"Of course. Aren't I always right Luke?"

He turned around as he had started leaving. "What?"

"Tell her I'm always right" she demanded.

"No" he said, turning to leave again.

"But Luke!" she cried out helplessly. "You are my super hero and I am your yet unnamed side kick, we have to stick together! Please" she pleaded, her face very similar to the one Rory pulled to Jess just before.

Luke sighed, then said "Okay, fine, you are always right. Happy now, Java Junkie?"

"Very happy" she smiled contently. "Even more since you just gave me the perfect name. See, we are soul mates!"

"Whatever you say" he chuckled, shaking his head in amusement at her enthusiasm.

"See!" she whispered to Rory. "We got powers. I suggest you explore them more frequently, cause they can be very practical, you know"

"I hear that" Rory smiled back at her.

**A/N **The FND coming next time… Be prepared…


	18. Disapproval, Disagreement

**A/N **I am extremely sorry for this taking so long. I've actually had this chapter ready for a while, but then ff had some problems and then I just couldn't find the time. Stupid school to take all my time away from writing fanfics… Anyway, now here it is. And, I also have worked on another story that I now decided to post. It is probably a one-shot, since I already have this one, but please check it out and tell me what you think. It's called **The Message** and you'll find it in my profile.

It would really be great with some reviews, both on that and on this new chapter. So, what are you waiting for?

18. Disapproving, Disagreement, Disappointment

Lorelai rang the bell. The two teenagers next to her exchanged one last look. Rory gave Jess a nervous, but supposed to be supportive smile. Jess's face was indifferent, but Rory could tell he was nervous too. The door opened, there was the new maid letting them in. For a moment they just stood there hand fallen after the maid had taken their coats and then run away to hide in the kitchen. Then Emily arrived.

"Come in, come in" she greeted them with a big smile. "And you must be this new boyfriend I've heard so much about, I assume?" she said to Jess, who had been hiding a bit behind the two girls but now unwillingly stepped out from the safety by the door.

"Yes, grandma, this is Jess" Rory said, waving her hand at him.

He finally looked up at Emily, who let out a small gasp at the sight of his still destroyed face.

"My goodness, what have you done to your…?" she started, but Lorelai interrupted her:

"And Jess, this is Rory's grandmother, my mother, the notorious Emily Gilmore"

"Nice to meet you" he mumbled.

"Yes, lovely" Emily said with a forced smile. "Well, shall we?" she said, showing them to the living room to have drinks.

"So… what are you having?" Emily asked, her back turned to them at the drink table.

"Um… I'll have a martini and the kids will have a club soda, right?" she said, not wanting to risk any chance of Emily thinking Jess drank alcohol.

"Yeah, that'd be great, grandma" said Rory.

Jess sat there quiet next to her on the couch. He thought it better not to say much. He really didn't want to screw this up. He could tell Rory was nervous, which meant she wanted this to go well. It was important to her, and he at least had to try his best to make it work.

"Here you go" said Emily, handing them their drinks. "So, Jess…" she started. "How long have you and Rory known each other? I feel I've heard you mentioned before, I just can't seem to figure out when"

"Well, I moved to Stars Hollow about half a year ago, so I guess that's about it" he answered, trying hard to be polite, which wasn't his finest specialty.

"Oh, where did you move from?"

"New York"

"My, that must've been a real change for you"

"It was, yes"

"So what brought you to Stars Hollow?"

"Actually my mother sent me there to live with my uncle"

"Luke, from the diner, you know" Lorelai added.

Emily sat quiet for a while, seemingly thinking what she had just heard over.

"You are that kid who crashed her car, aren't you?" she asked suddenly.

"Mom…" Lorelai said, trying to stop her.

"Well, he is, isn't he?" Emily continued, upset. "That guy who made you nervous, the guy who suddenly came to your town and caused trouble?"

"Mom, stop" Lorelai said, begging expression on her face.

"I thought you took care of that! How on earth can you just stand by and watch as your daughter goes from this perfectly decent boyfriend to this, apparently violent kid?" she yelled, gesturing to his black eye.

"Oh, so now this is my fault?" said Lorelai, offended.

"I can't believe it, I just can't believe it" Emily continued. "This is so typical of you Lorelai, you can't do anything right, not even raise this girl properly. Letting her staying out all night, now hanging out with this… guy" she spitted out the last word at a lack of anything better to call him. "Honestly…" she started, but suddenly Jess stood up and made them all quiet down and stare at him.

He sighed. "Look, I know you don't think I'm good enough for your daughter, granddaughter, but I love her, okay? And if that's not good enough…. no, who am I kidding, of course it's not good enough, then I'll just… I'll just go".

He was out of the door before any of the three women had overcome their surprises at his statement.

Rory was stunned. Had that just happened? She just sat there, her mouth a bit open and her eyes set on the place where Jess had last been seen. Then she woke up from this amazement. It had happened. He had told them he loved her and now he was gone.

"Excuse me" she said to them, still a rather confused expression on her face and then she was out of there also.

"Are you just gonna let her…?" Emily started, but Lorelai yelled back before she could even finish that sentence.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I am! I am going to let her make her own decisions, because I trust my kid and I know she has good judgement. Now I know I haven't always been okay with this Jess-issue, but I've never told her she couldn't do anything she wanted and I haven't humiliated her by commenting on this in front of him! Can't you just respect that Rory has made a choice and there's nothing neither of us can do about it?"

"Nothing to do!" Emily yelled back. "Of course there's something to do, you can always do something, you can forbid her to see him, you can ground her, you can move to another town… anything it takes to keep your daughter safe!"

"Hey, nothing has ever happened to Rory, so stop insinuating that I am such a bad mother. You know, of the two of us, who is it that has a daughter that good pregnant at 16, huh? Yeah, so I don't think you should be the one to come with advice!"

"Oh, so it was my fault that you got pregnant!"

"No, not really, but you don't get that it doesn't help to just lock a kid up if you disapprove on what she is doing. Now neither of us really think this guy is good enough for Rory, but if she has made the choice that she thinks he is, then we have to accept that! And you don't even know him, and I don't really know him either and now he comes here and he says he loves her in front of the both of us, which I could've never pictured him doing, so maybe we were both wrong! But even it we weren't we aren't the ones to decide on this, so you shouldn't do that, you can't just tell her her boyfriend isn't good enough after she has agreed to bring him here for dinner even though she didn't really want to"

"Why not?" yelled Emily. "This guy is just gonna hurt her and you know that too!"

"I don't know that and neither do you. I can worry, yes, but we don't know, maybe we are wrong. And even if it's true we can't do anything about it, she has to figure it out on her own and no one can do it for her!"

And suddenly Emily was the only one left, one drink in her hand and a disappointed expression on her face.


	19. We Are Original, But Yet Not Really

**A/N **OMG, this has taken me long to up-load. I am extremely sorry. Really. I´ve just had really much stuff going on. School and personal things. I´m very very sorry for this taking so long, and I hope you all haven't forgotten about this story! Please tell me what you think afterwards. Oh, and if you want you could check out some new stories I´ve written. Some are kind of weird, but well, you could read and well, it probably wouldn't kill you…

19. We Are Original, But Yet Not Really

He sat on the stone porch, smoking a cigarette. She walked up to him from behind. He saw her coming in the corner of his eye, but he didn't look up, not even when she stood right next to him. She just stood there quietly for a while, watching him blow clouds of smoke out in the air.

"Did you mean that?" she whispered emotionally.

"What?" he asked, even though he knew perfectly well what she meant.

Okay, so he was going to make her say it. "You… you love me?" she asked, her voice unsteady.

"What does it matter?" Jess sighed.

"Everything" she mumbled.

He finally looked up at her, such an upset expression that she was filled with both fear and a deep warmth for him. "They'll never be okay with us anyway" he said, hope lost from his voice so that it was almost hollow. "We should just stop fooling ourselves that we could make this work"

Tears filled her eyes at his words and the look on his face. He was trying to break up with her! "How can you say that? You know I don't give a damn what they think, don't you get that?" she yelled, hurt and on the verge of crying.

"But you do, I know you do!" He shouted back. "Even though you might not wanna admit it you know I'm right, you know you care, you know this isn't going to last"

Now she was crying for real, tears running down her cheeks freely.

"I can't believe you just said that!" she said, her lower lip shaking.

"Why? Can you honestly tell me you think this is gonna work out?"

"Yeah" she whispered. "But apparently you don't"

"How?" he sighed deeply.

"Because I love you, you idiot!" she cried before turning her back on him and running around to the back yard.

She sunk down against the wall of her grandparents' house, sobbing hysterically. Was it over now? The relationship she had wanted for so long and that now had made her feel really happy and complete for the first time in her life – had it just come to an end? Because of her grandmother's disapproval? How could he think she cared about that? Or, well, obviously it didn't make her happy, but the thought had never crossed her mind that she'd ever break up with him over it. Now he had instead. Maybe he was more sensitive than she'd always thought. He must've taken it pretty badly. Or was he just scared she'd dump him?

She tried to stop thinking about it. It didn't matter why. It was over…

Suddenly she heard foot steps approaching. Quickly she hid her face down in her knee. She wouldn't want him to see how upset she was. She tried to calm her sobs down, banning herself for them being so audible.

"You really mean that?" it was now his turn to ask. "You don't care about them?"

She was quiet for a little while, concentrating on getting her voice as steady as possible as she answered.

"I meant it" she whispered. "All of it. I mean, I do wish they'd like you, but it doesn't really matter"

"You sure?" he asked again.

"Yeah" she said, looking up at him through the tears.

He sat down beside her.

"I'm sorry" he sighed, with an expression so sincere and honest she almost felt like starting to cry again.

"I'm sorry too" she said quietly.

"Why?" he asked, frowning. "You didn't do anything"

"I'm sorry that I made you think it would matter to me what they thought. I'm sorry I didn't show you enough that I'd never ever wanna break up with you for something like that. That's what you thought, right?"

He hesitated, then said "Yeah" looking almost ashamed. "So you wouldn't huh?"

"Never" she said, completely serious.

"Now, do you realize we have both said we love each other tonight, yelling?" she said after a while. "Quite a first time, huh? Or… did you mean it?" she then asked, afraid she'd just been assuming that and now was going to get disappointed.

"Yeah" he admitted. "You?"

"Of course" she smiled at him.

He beamed back, finally all that hollowness from before gone from his features.

"Boy, are we sentimental" she said, starting to laugh. "_I love you, you idiot! _Very romantic"

"Good to know we're not one of those cheesy couples who make all these things cliché" he said, smirking.

"Yeah, we sure are unique" she said, her laughter coming to an abrupt halt as she noticed the way he was looking at her. "What?"

"I love you" he said genuinely, his eyes deep into hers.

"Love you too" she whispered with a small smile. "Guess we can be kind of cheesy after all, huh?"

"Well, a little predictability now and then can be nice too" he said softly, now putting his arm around her so that she could lean in and rest her head against his shoulder.

Suddenly Lorelai was in front of them. "You coming?" she asked in a tired voice.

The two teenagers nodded and started to get up. "You okay?" Lorelai asked, concerned about Rory's face that still was glazed with tears, she discovered as they got into the light.

Rory just nodded again and they started walking back to the car in silence, Jess's arm slung around Rory's shoulder as they walked closely together. Lorelai walked a few feet behind them, a small smile on her face as she saw their intimacy. At least one of them got that now…

**A/N **Did it suck? Too cheesy? Did you hate it?

Anything, please please let me know! (you are of course allowed to tell me you like it also)


	20. Love Is In The Air

**A/N **Wow. Thanks for all the reviews I got for the last chapter. Makes me happy, and it makes me up-date fast, even though I really am busy with school (or should be). So, keep em coming if you want to read more… Anyway, I know some people thought it wrong of Rory to say "I love you idiot" to Jess in the last chapter, since she did that to Dean. I agree with you. I just, first I had written it and I just couldn't think of where it came from, and then I didn't think of it before it was too late to change it. I very much apologize. Now enough rambling, on with the story!

20. Love Is In The Air

Lorelai walked into the kitchen. "Hey Sookie" she called to get the chief´s attention.

"Lorelai!" Sookie called back excitedly from the other side of the room. "Honey, you gotta come here! You just have to taste this new coffee cake I made earlier"

"Always up for something that resembles coffee" she said, hurrying over there.

"Here" Sookie said, putting a soon in Lorelai's mouth.

Smiling she awaited her reaction.

"My God, this is amazing" Lorelai burst out.

"Great, huh?"

"No no, not great, way far better then great. Sookie, this is marvellous, magnificent, wonderful, incredible! Not great!"

"I know. I will definitely serve that for dinner tonight then"

"Tonight and every other night in my house!"

"I'll see what I can do" Sookie chuckled.

"So you wanna hear about dinner last night with the wonderful combo of me, Rory, Emily Gilmore and guess who….Jess!" Lorelai asked dramatically after a while.

"Oh, that sounds bad" said Sookie, half-sympathetic, half-amused.

"Believe me, it was. The foursome of The Beatles got along better at the end, I believe"

"Jess screwed it up, huh?" Sookie asked with concern in her voice.

"Actually, no, he didn't" Lorelai replied thoughtfully.

"He didn't?" Sookie questioned, surprised.

"No, Jess was perfect"

"Perfect?" Sookie asked, disbelieving.

"Well, yeah. In the Jess-term-book, then yeah. And I ended up having a major fight with Emily, while I was the one defending him" she said, still shocked by this herself.

"Wow, you really do anything to go against her"

"No… it's just that…. Well, yeah, but it wasn't just that. He… he said he loved her"

"Really?"

"Yeah, really"

"And he said this in front of all of you?" Sookie asked with a voice full of doubt.

"Yeah"

"Are we still talking about the same Jess?" she wondered.

"You know, I was starting to wonder the same thing last night. It was so weird. I mean, at first things were going all right, Jess was being politer to Emily than I'd ever thought him capable of. But then of course, she realized that he was the one who crashed Rory's car before"

"Not good?"

"Not good" Lorelai confirmed. "All the sudden she was blowing up at me for letting her switch boyfriend"

"How on earth can that be your fault, you have tried so hard against this"

"I know!" Lorelai said, getting upset. "God, I can't believe her sometimes, even though I probably should've gotten used to it by now"

"Well that is Emily Gilmore for you. Continue"

"So she was going on about how awful Jess is for Rory with the two of them just sitting there, Rory looking all hurt and confused"

"Oh poor thing" Sookie said, caringly.

"Yeah. She was so mad last night afterwards. But anyway, suddenly Jess stood up and interrupted her insulting him"

"Wow, what did he say?" Sookie asked, curiosity very apparent in her expression.

"He… he said he loved Rory and if that wasn't good enough for us, then he'd just go. And then he was gone"

"Oh" Sookie said amazed and intrigued. "So what happened next?"

"Well, Rory stormed out soon after him and I was left with my mother. We had a huge fight, she against him and me for him, I guess. Rory went out after Jess and I don't really have all the details on what went on there, but I guess they must've had a fight or something first cause Rory had been crying, but when I came out there they looked very comfy and in the car ride home they were snuggling in the back seat…"

"That bugged you, huh?"

"Actually no. I mean they weren't making out or anything, they were just… you know, cutesy. He was holding her and she was leaning against his shoulder and stuff. It was… kind of… sweet" she admitted.

"Sounds it" Sookie said, smiling.

"Yeah" Lorelai said, also with a small smile.

"Guess he might not be that bad after all, huh?" Sookie asked now.

"Guess so" Lorelai confessed.

After a while Sookie started humming a little and soon she was singing out loud. "Love is in the air, love is in the ai-air…" she sung, beaming at Lorelai and starting to dance around.

Lorelai just laughed at her for a moment, then joined in at Sookie´s waves for her to do it.

So they were both hopping around crazily and singing loudly off key when Michel entered the room. When he got sight of the two of them he made a disgusted face and turned to leave. But they saw him and followed him out, happy of this wonderful opportunity to tease him. They came around him, one from each side, singing in his ears.

"The two of you repulses me completely sometimes" he mumbled.

"Just sometimes?" Lorelai laughed.

"That's an improvement" Sookie verified.

"Pretty Michel must be in a good mood today"

"Yes, and it must be because…. Love is in the air" Sookie picked up their singing again and Lorelai joined in immediately.

Michel just sighed at the both of them.

**A/N **Please review and after you´ve done that, you are very much welcome to check out my newest story **For You. **It´s a future lit, and for once not a one-shot, so… I´d love some feed-back to see if I should continue. But don't worry, I won´t be forgetting about this one, a least not as long as someone encourages me to keep writing. So come on, press the little button there…


	21. Persuasion Powers

**A/N **I am so sorry for this taking so long. Please don't hate me! Instead, read this little new chapter, enjoy and then write me some reviews and make me happy and in another up-dating mood! I'll try to put up the next chapter for this pretty soon and to up-date my other story **For You**, and I've also got another little story coming soon I think. But well, now I'm done rambling and you can just read the chapter…

21. Persuasion Powers

"Luke, come on!" Lorelai begged him.

"No" he said firmly.

"But you have to!" she whined.

"I don't have to do anything at all except for serve people food when they pay me to and I certainly do not have to participate in these silly town events"

"Wow, that's a lot of words for Monosyllable Man"

"Well, you didn't listen. So a simple no was clearly not enough"

"And you think that was?" she asked sceptically. "Really Duke, I had expected more from you" she said, faking deep disappointment.

"Don't call me that" he said, not at all as annoyed as he was claiming to be.

"I'll stop if you promise to buy my basket" she said with a teasing smile.

"Stepped right into that one, didn't I?" he sighed.

"Yep" she smiled happily. "But Luke, you did it last year. That wasn't so bad, right? Please!!" she moaned again.

"Don't you have anyone else you can torture like this?" he sighed.

"Nope. I really am that pathetic. So come on, you are my last hope here!"

"You really want me to do this?" Luke asked after a moment of silence.

"And he finally gets it!" she mock-cheers. "Hello, what have I been bugging you about for the last…" she checked her watch "well, at least 10 minutes. Yes, I want you there! Please Luke" she added, suddenly looking a bit too deep into his eyes for him to manage.

He gave a deep sigh, then said "Oh, alright"

"Yay!" she shrieked and threw her arm up in a victory gesture.

He just shook his head.

"So… it is the Bid-A-Basket Festival tomorrow" Rory said to Jess as they walked down the street, his arm around her waist.

"Oh really?" he said, acting innocently unknowing.

"Yes… And you know it is a tradition for me to do this every year…"

"Huh"

"So…." She said meaning.

"So… what?" he mocked.

"Oh, come on, you're gonna make me say it!" she whined.

"Say what?" he asked, smirking at her annoyance.

"Will you come there and buy my basket?" she finally asked, frustrated.

He pretended to be thinking about it for a minute then said "Absolutely"

"Really?" she asked happily.

"You didn't think I would?" he chuckled.

"No" she confessed. "I mean, I hoped you would, but I just didn't think you'd wanna do this cause it's town stuff and it's all dorky and you're all cool and… Well, you know" she interrupted her babbling herself as she listened to what she was saying.

"I'm not that cool" he smiled. "And I definitely would not want anyone else buying your stupid basket with all the disgusting items resembling food from this very silly basket-auction-festival, whatever you call it"

"Oh, look at you trying to remain James Dean" she teased him. "But you won't fool me. To me you are always just a little dork who blushes when he gets emotional…."

"Hey, that was one time!" he insisted.

"Whatever you say" she smiled, shrugging. "Dork!" she added playfully.

"So… you got Jess to go, huh?" Lorelai asked as they were sitting in their living room, watching some TV show neither of them cared about.

"Yes. It didn't even take lots of persuasion like I thought it would" Rory smiled proudly.

"Wow. Never thought I'd live to see the day when our own James Dean turned into a loveydovey geek"

"Neither did I" Rory chuckled. "But I like to see myself as the causer of this change"

"Yeah, you really do must have some powers in ya we all underestimated"

"Guess so" Rory laughed. "How about you? You got Luke to do it?"

Lorelai nodded.

"Oh, that's an impressive accomplishment, getting him to do this two years in a row"

"Yeah. I guess. And I was really proud of myself until you came here and beat me with your Monosyllable Man and you say it didn't even take persuasion powers. That's like he even wanted to go… Yuck!"

"Had to bring out the big guns, huh?" Rory asked sympathetically and Lorelai nodded sadly.

"I even had to use the looking deep into his eyes-thingy. I think I'm loosing touch" she sighed.

"I'm sure it's just temporary" Rory assured her. "You hang in there mom!"

"So… you going to this basket event tomorrow?" Luke asked Jess as he entered their apartment.

"I guess. You can't say no to Rory, can you?" he said, not looking up from his book.

"No, you sure can't" Luke sighed. "Same with Lorelai"

"You got sucked in too huh?" Jess asked, looking up amused.

"Yep" Luke confirmed.

"Man, we gotta work on this" Jess chuckled.

"Saying no to them you mean?"

"We really suck at it" Jess said as he nodded.

"Yeah, we sure do. Aw jeez, she's gonna make me eat all her disgusting junk food leftovers. I mean, I'd never touch that stuff normally and when it's a week old… Yuck!"

"Not sure it's only a week" Jess laughed.

"God!" Luke sighed. "I mean, I never thought I'd say this, but…. Eww!"

"Totally agreed" Jess nodded, confirming.


	22. Unexpected, Unwanted, Undeniable

**A/N **Extremely sorry for the wait. I'm suffering a writer's block on some stories right now, but I'll get new chapters up as soon as I get some inspiration. Until then, you could check out my GG/OTH crossover with the pairing Jess/Peyton, cause that is the only one I seem to be getting ideas for right now. Hopefully that will change soon. Maybe some encouraging reviews could do the trick. hint hint Sorry. But feel very free to tell me what you think of it.

22. Unexpected Unwanted Undeniable

"Here we have a very small basket, but let's not be fooled by its exterior, you never know, what is inside might be just as amazing. So come on all you gentlemen out there, let the bidding begin!" Taylor shouted out to the big crowd with a wide grin.

After getting nudged in the shoulder by Lorelai Luke raised his hand "5 dollars"

She smiled at him as she walked away to Rory, she was just making sure Luke remembered his promise first.

"Okay, we have 5 dollars. Anyone else?" Taylor asked. "5 dollars going once, 5 dollars going twice…"

"10!" came a voice from the back of the crowd.

Both Lorelai and Luke turned their head in surprise. She couldn't see who it was, so she continued to stretch her neck. Luke however had a better view and it only took one quick look over his shoulder to bring him down completely. Christopher. He saw Lorelai struggling to find out who it was and he knew. It was over. She wouldn't want him to buy her basket anymore. He was just her back-up, a friend to use when no one else was available. Now he was here and Luke was unnecessary again. He gave a deep sigh and then sneaked away from there, back into the safety of his diner. He knew he never should've fooled himself like that. It was better to stay here, inside alone, where he belonged.

"10 dollars going once, 10 dollars going twice…"

Lorelai had given up on trying to get a sight of the mystery bidder and was now frantically looking for Luke in the crowd, puzzled when she couldn't find him.

"And sold for 10 dollars to that man in the back that I can't really see right now!" Taylor stated.

Lorelai started moving around in her attempts to find Luke to ask him why he hadn't kept his promise. Then suddenly she got stopped as someone grabbed her arm from behind.

"Hey you" Christopher smiled at her as she turned around.

"Chris" she said as realization hit her, then forcing a smile back "What are you doing here?"

"Buying your basket" he grinned, waving with it in front of her.

"Wh-why?" she asked, overwhelmed by all this.

"A gentleman needs a reason to do this?" he asked. "Wow, I really have to catch up on all your small town traditions"

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that, I was just surprised. I mean, we haven't seen you in a while and…"

"Now I'm here"

"Yeah. You know, there was actually something…" she started excusing herself.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute here" he interrupted her. "Doesn't this mean I have the privilege of your wonderful company for lunch?" he asked, waving the basket again.

"Well, technically yes, but I just… Chris, I can't do this… you showing up here all out of the blue and…"

"Lorelai, relax. I just wanna take you out to lunch. Nothing more. I have something to tell you. Come on. You probably don't wanna break the rules here, cause that man looks like he could get you all sorts of punishments if you did" he said, pointing at Taylor who chose that right moment to give them a suspicious look. "Just lunch?" he asked again.

"Okay" she agreed. "But only because you have no idea how right you are about Taylor there, you can't even imagine the trouble I would be in"

"Well, let's go then" he smiled at her.

"5 dollars going once, going twice… SOLD to Jackson Belleville, which was lucky cause it is his wife's basket, so otherwise it would mean serious trouble in paradise, but now well… let's move on" Taylor said.

"Why doesn't anyone else bid on that one?" Jess asked Rory. "It actually looks good food wise which is more than you can say about most of them"

Before Rory got to answer, Kirk butted in "You don't wanna do that, trust me. Last year I bought her basket and boy, was I in trouble. Vegetable growing – not for weak guys, let me tell you!" he explained very seriously.

"I'll remember that" Jess said, trying to suppress laughter.

"Good. Remember that I warned you" Kirk said.

It was too much, Jess turned away and pretended to cough as Rory answered for him, just grinning a little "He will. Thanks Kirk"

"This town is actually getting weirder to me now they're talking to me" he whispered, shaking his head with a half-smirk, half-grin.

"Yeah, I know, that's the fun about it! You think you've seen it all and that you can't possibly ever be surprised again" she smiled.

"Every time?" he asked.

"Every time" she confirmed. "Now that just there wasn't even weird, that was like remarkably normal for Kirk"

He raised his eyebrow and looked at her disbelieving.

"Hey, you weren't here when he tried to launch his moisturiser with hay that had bad reactions to light, movement and air. Or when we found him naked on our roof one night, or…"

"Okay, don't need more examples there" he interrupted her.

"You have to admit, it is kind of fun"

"Yeah" he nodded. "Sometimes" he added at her big smile.

"Nah, you like it here, you just said so. You can't take it back now. Too late" she teased.

"But what I meant was…" he tried, but she stopped him with a kiss.

"It's okay to enjoy the madness… sometimes" she smiled playfully. "Even for James Dean"

"Will you stop calling me that, I'm not trying to…" he started, pretending to be annoyed.

"I know" she chuckled. "You're just a natural"

He held her closer, putting his arm around her shoulders and his chin on top of her head.

"And I kind of like it" she whispered, looking up at him.

"Oh yeah?" he smirked, leaning her in for a kiss.

She gave him a soft kiss and responded with a wide smile. "Yeah"

**A/N **More will be up at some point. Review and I will hurry for you guys. You rock!


	23. Some Trade Sides, Some Has Brought News

**A/N: **For all amazing reviewers, I here give you another chapter.

23. Some Trade Sides, Some Has Brought News

"Now this is the smallest one we have seen so far. What should we say, we start the bidding at 1 dollar?" Taylor said.

"Hey!" said Rory, playing offended.

"Well, honey, it is awfully little and it's not even full" said Miss Patty sympathetically as she sat next to Taylor.

"Thank God for that" Jess murmured.

"For your information I have put a lot of effort into making that so I would prefer if you all could show a little more appreciation" Rory said stubbornly.

"Well, technically I am. That you didn't make more" Jess said with a smirk.

"Hey you, be nice to your lady" Miss Patty told him.

"Alright, alright people" Taylor said annoyed. "Do we even have one dollar?"

Jess pretended to not hear him for a while and turned away from Rory, whistling and teasing her mercilessly.

"Anyone?" asked Taylor.

After getting hit on the arm by Rory, Jess raised his hand.

"1 dollar going once, 1 dollar going twice… sold to the hoodlum over here" Taylor said, pointing in Jess's direction.

"Honey, his name is Jess" Miss Patty pointed out.

"I know, I know" Taylor sighed.

"Well, he bought _that_ basket for her, we gotta give the guy some credit" she said.

"Oh alright. I'm sorry, sold to Jess Mariano for 1 dollar. There, you happy?" he asked Miss Patty.

"Very" she smiled, satisfied that she had made him do that.

"Just one dollar" Rory pouted. "Is my company worth nothing more than that?"

"Why of course it is my fair lady. It is worth far more than every cent in this world" Jess teased.

"And yet you only paid one dollar"

"See it from the positive side, I actually did pay something to get this. Most people would pay to get rid of it"

"You are mean" she pouted even more.

"Well, he is right doll" Babette pointed out. "You are gorgeous, but let's face it, no one would pay for that basket. You're real lucky to have him!"

"Yeah, stay cool kid" Morey added, lifting his hat to Jess.

"Eh… thanks" Jess said, confused.

"Anyway, see you around, sugar. And Jess, make sure you don't eat that" Babette said. "Come on now honey, I'm up next" she said to Morey as she started dragging him forward.

"They took your side!" Rory whined. "That's just not fair, they're supposed to hate you" she said with a smile.

"Oh, and you seem really unhappy that they don't" he said sarcastically.

"No" she admitted. "It's really amusing to see you dealing with that"

"Thank you so much for enjoying my humiliation"

"You are very welcome" she smiled.

"So shall we go and get this over with?" he said with a fake-sigh.

"Yes, we shall" she agreed, taking his arm and starting leading him away.

"So… now we have had the just lunch you promised me and you still haven't told me anything in particular. Was there really something or was that just a trick to lure me to go?" Lorelai asked Christopher.

"There was… something" he admitted.

"So, tell me!"

"Well this is kind of huge news actually" he started.

"Calling me curious"

"You know Sherry"

"Yes, I know Sherry. Your girlfriend. Blonde, pretty, kinda annoying"

"That's the one. And I know it's kind of weird for you with us, so I thought this should come from me"

"I'm intrigued, prepared and dying of curiosity here. Tell me!"

"Alright. She is pregnant"

"Sherry's pregnant?" Lorelai asked, surprised.

"Yes" Christopher said unsurely.

"She's having a baby, your baby?"

"Yes"

"Wow. You really are changing" she said, kind of amazed.

"Guess I am. And… are you okay with this?"

"Sure. This is great!"

"It is?"

"Isn't it?"

"Well, yeah. I just thought… I mean you and I are so connected and you know, it might be weird for you. I am the father of your child and now I am going to be a dad again. But I just want to make sure you know that I am not going to forget about Rory, tell her that, she is still my daughter and…"

"Whoa, stop. I know you love Rory. This isn't gonna change that"

"No. It's not"

"Okay then" she chuckled at his seriousness.

"Well, thank you for this lunch" Lorelai said after a while. "But I kind of have to go now" she said with an apologetic smile.

"Any reason in particular?" he asked.

"Well, yeah. I have to find this person that I sort of really need to talk to right now"

"Could you be any more evasive?" he smiled.

"Yes" she said, raising an eyebrow. "I have to go fix something, I have to go do the thing with the person and the…."

"Okay, I get it, you are the queen of evasion" he interrupted her.

"I just… there was someone that was supposed to buy my basket but then when you showed up he kind of disappeared and I have to find him and…" she explained.

"Yeah, sorry if I screwed something up, just showing up like that"

"No, it's okay. I just have to find him now"

"So who's the guy?" he asked with a meaning smile.

"Oh… just someone" she said cryptically, waving at him before she left him sitting there, smiling at her.

**A/N: **Sometimes I hate Christopher and sometimes I think he is okay. I don't know. In this I just thought Dean was enough of the bad guy so I made Chris okay. Not sure if it was right or not, but well, there it is.

Please tell me what you thought of the chapter, and if you review nicely I will up-date again soon!

Oh, and if you like One Tree Hill, I've got some stories you might wanna check out. One crossover with GG (Peyton/Jess) and a Naley. Would love it if you read.

OK, enough rambling from me. Thanks for reading!


	24. Punishments, Demands and Commitments

**A/N: **This is because I am sick and bored and I wanted to give something to all you wonderful reviewers out there. More reviews, more chapters even if it might take some time…

24. Punishments, Demands, News and Commitments

"So… do I really have to eat this?" Jess asked, his expression disbelieving.

"Yep" she smiled. "You at least have to taste everything" she added at his look of misery.

"You are a mean lady" he pouted.

"I have to do something to get back at you all for ganging up on me like that before" she explained as if it was completely obvious.

"But that's not fair, you're just punishing me!" he complained.

"Well, yeah. You are my boyfriend and therefore should not participate in those things"

"I bet there also is some kind of rule that forbids girlfriends from feeding you with crap" he muttered.

"Actually no. There is however a rule that gives the girlfriend right to punish the boyfriend if he breaks the rules in which ways she finds necessary"

"Oh and where is this coming from? The Rory Rule Book?" he asked sarcastically.

"No" she chuckled. "But kind of close. The Relationship Guide For And By The Gilmore Girls"

"There is such a book?" he asked disbelieving.

"Yep. My mom and I decided to write it a couple of years ago. Rules are added when we come up with something new. It's really good actually. With most guys you can just refer to The Rule Book and they listen, they think it's something official"

"Well, most guys don't have such brilliant intellectual capacities as myself…" he smirked.

"Most guys aren't as suspicious as you. Or as self-important for that matter" she teased.

"Hey" he said, offended. "You should be lucky to have a boyfriend who is both smart and aware of it. We are a rare kind, you know"

"Yes, I know. I consider myself privileged" she laughed.

Luke didn't look up as Lorelai entered the empty diner.

"You disappeared" she pointed out, sitting down at the counter in front of him.

"I guess" he muttered.

"You just left"

"Yeah, well, didn't think you'd want me there" he murmured.

"Why not?" she asked even though she kind of knew.

"He came. You didn't think you'd have someone to buy your basket, so you asked me. He shows up and you're with him instead. It's fine, I get it" he said, still not meeting her gaze.

"Whoa, I'm not with him. It was lunch" she defended herself.

"For now yeah"

"No. Nothing more. Ever" she said and he finally looked up. "His girlfriend is pregnant. They're getting married. Chris and I are over – for good now" she explained.

"Wow" he said, amazed. "Eh… sorry? I mean, you two were always…"

"No, we haven't been in a long time" she interrupted him. "Don't be sorry, I'm completely fine about that. If you're sorry about anything it should be that you bailed on me after making a promise"

"Yeah. Sorry" he said, looking sheepish. "I just thought…"

"I know. And it's okay, Chris and I sort of did need to talk about this stuff, it's just that… I asked you" she said, emphasising the 'you'.

"But I thought you only did that cause you didn't have anyone else" he said quietly.

"No, I asked you because I wanted you there" she chuckled. "Remember last year, that was fun, right?"

"I guess" he muttered.

"So… you'll buy mine next year?" she asked leadingly.

"I don't know, if you want me to…" he said, his eyes on the floor.

"It's a demand!" she beamed.

He looked up and gave her a small smile back, which made her smile even wider.

"So… how was lunch?" Rory asked Lorelai as she entered the living room where she sat, reading.

"It was… interesting" Lorelai said after a while of thinking.

"Interesting? That bad, huh?" she asked sympathetically.

"No, no, not really bad. Just… eventful"

"I'm intrigued!"

"Well, first of all, Luke didn't buy my basket"

"Who did? Was it Kirk?" she asked enthusiastically.

"No, it wasn't Kirk. Surprisingly… it was your dad"

"Dad? Wow, we haven't seen him in a long time"

"I know, hon."

"What was he doing here?"

"He came bringing some news"

"Good news, bad news?"

"Don't really know. You'll have to see for yourself. We can just call it news"

"Okay. News. Let's hear them"

"Alright. Here we go. Sherry's pregnant"

"His girlfriend Sherry?"

"Yeah"

"Wow"

"Yeah. So… how do you feel about this?" Lorelai asked hesitantly.

"I'm not sure. How should I feel about this?"

"Can't tell you that, sweetie. I mean, he is your dad and now he's gonna be somebody else's dad too, but he made sure I'd let you know he's still gonna be there"

"Yeah, I don't know if it's gonna make much difference. I mean, it's not like he was always here"

"No. But it might still be weird for you. Is it?"

"I don't think so" she said thoughtfully. "Did he seem happy about it?"

"Yeah" Lorelai smiled. "He was a bit worried about how I'd take it, but when I was fine you could totally see it on him. He's gonna be a daddy and he loves it"

"Oh, good for him"

"Yeah"

"And you really are okay with this, I mean, you and dad were never truly over and now… you are" Rory asked, looking worriedly at her mother.

"I'm fine"

"Really?"

"Yes. If he is happy then I am happy for him"

"Good"

"So… did you get Jess to eat all of your disgusting stuff?" Lorelai asked after a while.

"No, not all of them" she said, faking deep disappointment.

"See, hon, it's not just me, we're both loosing touch"

"Hey, speak for yourself. I didn't get Jess to eat ALL of it. I did however get him to get a little taste out of everything"

"Even that thing that we couldn't figure out what it was or when it was from?" she asked, disbelieving.

"A very small taste and with lots of complaining, but yeah" she smiled proudly.

"Wow. That's my daughter, ladies and gentlemen"

"Didn't get dad to eat any, huh?" she asked sympathetically.

Lorelai shook her head sadly.

"Well, you would've had a better chance with Luke. Wait, did you two have a fight or something when dad showed up and bought your basket?" she asked looking worried.

"No, why would we?"

"He got jealous" she said as though it was obvious.

"Luke is not secretly in love with me" Lorelai sighed.

"No" she said to Lorelai's astonishment. "It isn't secretly since everybody knows it but you" she added with a playful smile.

Lorelai threw a pillow at her daughter and stuck her tongue out at her.

"Now that is maturity" Rory said teasingly. "But you're okay?"

"Yes. I went to talk to him afterwards. He's gonna buy my basket next year" she said happily.

"Wow, that's a commitment"

"No, it's not. It is two friends who are just very planned ahead and…" she defended herself.

"Okay, okay" Rory interrupted her. "Don't get why you're fighting this so hard when it is totally obvious, but sure. I'm just glad we can still get our coffee"

"We can"

"Well, good then"

"Yeah. Good" she said thoughtfully.

**A/N: **Anyone still following the story? Care to let me know what you think?


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